MALCOLM WEBSTER CASE: WIFE KILLER DROPS APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE
A man who was found guilty of murdering his wife in a car crash in Aberdeenshire has dropped his appeal against sentence.Malcolm Webster, 54, originally from Surrey, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years for murdering Claire Morris in 1994.
He was also convicted of staging a similar attempt to murder his second wife in New Zealand.
The Court of Criminal Appeal heard he was dropping his appeal.
Webster had previously lost an appeal against his conviction.
Defence QC Gary Allan said: "Mr Webster has consistently and vehemently denied his guilt of the crimes of which the jury has convicted him.
His position remains entirely unchanged.
He maintains he did not commit the crimes and the verdicts of the jury represent a gross miscarriage of justice.
He has now instructed me that he considers that for me to advance any argument against his sentence might wrongly give the impression that he had changed his position and is now seeking simply to mitigate his guilt." Lord Eassie sitting with Lady Clark and Lord Wheatley allowed Webster to drop his attempt to cut his sentence.
Webster was also found guilty in 2011 of murdering Ms Morris, who was originally from Kent.
Her death in the crash was initially treated as a tragic accident, with Webster surviving and later marrying Felicity Drumm in 1997.
In 1999, Webster and Felicity were involved in a car crash in New Zealand, leading to a worldwide police inquiry.
The case was finally resolved when a relative of Webster's second wife revealed details at a conference, resulting in Webster facing a long trial and being convicted.
