The jury in the trial of a man accused of killing his wife in a deliberate car crash have been shown "distressing" photographs of the scene.

The trial judge, Lord Bannatyne, explained that it was "necessary" to look at the pictures taken following the death of Claire Morris in Aberdeenshire in 1994.

Her husband, Malcolm Webster, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of killing her in a plot to obtain thousands of pounds in insurance payouts.

He is alleged to have pocketed more than £200,000 after her death.

Webster denies drugging Ms Morris, and then deliberately crashing a car she was in before setting fire to it. The 51-year-old, from Guildford in Surrey, is also accused of attempting to murder his second wife in New Zealand five years later, as well as trying to bigamously marry a third woman and gain access to her estate.

He denies the charges against him.

Inspector Ian Webster, who worked for Grampian Police at the time of the crash, explained how he had attended the incident.

He said the car was "completely ablaze" when he arrived at the crash scene on the unclassified road near Old Meldrum.

The advocate depute, Derek Ogg QC, talked him through various pictures taken after the fire had been extinguished. He warned the jury that the pictures were "distressing".

They showed a "badly charred" human leg, as well as Ms Morris' skull and torso, the policeman said. They also showed the melted running board of the car, a burnt fence post close to the car and some charred trees, the jury was told.

The pictures were not shown to the public gallery, because members of Ms Morris' family were in court.

IN DETAIL:

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• Murder accused Malcolm Webster got date of wife's death wrong
• Murder accused took another woman to his yacht 'weeks' after killing his wife
• Wife-murder accused made another woman 'uncomfortable' during romantic film
• Murder accused told friend he was 'banned' from funeral of wife he killed
• Malcolm Webster was 'shell-shocked' after death of wife he is accused of killing
• Murder accused 'visited wife's grave with another woman'
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• Husband accused of murdering wife borrowed money from another woman, court hears
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• Murder accused 'denied he had remarried'
• Husband murdered first wife and tried to kill second for insurance cash, court hears