by Jenni Horn

The brother of a woman who was murdered by her husband has won a battle to get her gravestone removed.

Peter Morris (pictured), has been campaigning to replace the tombstone at his sister Claire Morris' grave in Aberdeenshire. Claire was killed by her husband Malcolm Webster in 1994.

It was first thought 32-year-old Claire, who is originally from Upchurch, died in a car crash - but Webster had in fact drugged his wife of eight months and staged the accident.

He was convicted of Claire's murder and for the attempted murder of his second wife Felicity in July and sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Mr Morris has been fighting to have Claire's gravestone replaced because it was engraved with her married name and contained the words 'dear wife'.

He was told he would need Webster's permission - because he owned the plot - but now Aberdeenshire Council has agreed to remove the stone.

Mr Morris, 48, said: "It's absolutely fantastic.

"It is only a partial resolution because we want to erect a new headstone, but it is very encouraging.

"The headstone was a lie and a monstrosity.

"We saw it as a desecration of her grave."

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: "Having considered very carefully all the legal implications we believe that, given Mr Webster's criminal conviction, it is appropriate for us to remove the headstone and place it in secure storage."

Next week, Peter Morris, of Kingswood Road, Gillingham, is set to embark on a 150-mile walk from Claire's grave in Aberdeen to Edinburgh to raise money to set up a victim-support charity in Claire's memory.