Wife-murder accused made another woman 'uncomfortable' during romantic film

A man accused of killing his first wife in a planned car accident made a colleague feel "uncomfortable" after he invited her for dinner and watched a romantic film with his head on her lap, a court heard.

Malcolm Webster is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering his wife Claire Morris in Aberdeenshire in May 1994 and pocketing more than £200,000 from insurance policies after her death.

He denies drugging her, and then deliberately crashing a car she was in before setting fire to it.

Webster is also accused of trying to kill his second wife, Felicity Drumm, in New Zealand to obtain more than £1m from separate insurance policies.

Webster, 51, from Guildford in Surrey, also faces a further charge of attempting to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee and inducing her to make a will leaving everything to him, as well as lying about having leukaemia. He denies all the charges against him.

The court has previously heard from several women who were in relationships with Webster at the same time.

On Thursday Patricia Malcolm told the court she wrote to Webster, who she worked with at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, following the death of his wife. She said she had wanted to "let him know I was there for him as a friend".

After he invited her for dinner, Webster put on the romantic comedy Truly Madly Deeply, which the court heard he said was one of his dead wife's favourite films. Ms Malcolm said the film's protagonist had been bereaved, but was being watched by their late partner as a ghost.

She said that at the end of the film, the dead partner moved on, saying it was about how "the partner should move on and live their life the way they want to".

She said: "He lay across me while we were watching the film with his head on my knee. I felt a little bit uncomfortable but I didn't know what to say or do. I just sat there."

The pair also went for dinner at a hotel restaurant, the court heard. Webster picked Ms Malcolm up in a new 4x4 car and told her he "wanted to come and take me out in his new car".

She said the trip involved some three hours of driving for Webster but he showed no signs of fear or distress at driving so soon after the accident that killed his wife.

Ms Malcolm also said Webster had spoken to her about the accident that killed his wife.

She said: "He was outside the car, I think he said he had been knocked out, and when he came to he heard Claire screaming and the car was on fire."

The trial, before Lord Bannatyne, continues.

IN DETAIL: