Malcolm Webster made police complaint

Malcolm Webster denies all the charges at the High Court in Glasgow

A man accused of murdering his first wife and trying to kill his second told police it was "ridiculous" he might commit a crime, a trial has heard.

Malcolm Webster, 51, denies murdering his first wife Claire Morris in 1994 in Aberdeenshire for insurance money.

Mr Webster, of Surrey, also denies crashing a car in a bid to kill his second wife in New Zealand in 1999.

The High Court in Glasgow heard Mr Webster wrote a letter of complaint to the Chief Constable of Grampian Police.

The jury was told that this followed the force passing information to New Zealand.

Mr Webster, from Guildford, complained that he had been the victim of a breach of confidentiality.

The court heard he ended the letter, which he wrote in 2000, by saying: "I have no criminal record and frankly find it ridiculous to suggest I might commit a crime."

The letter was shown to witness Det Con William Clark.

Advocate depute Derek Ogg QC, prosecuting, showed the officer the letter and asked: "Was there a complaint about breach of confidentiality by Grampian Police?"

He replied: "Yes."

'Falling apart'

Det Con Clark also said he went to Northampton Hospital on 22 December 2008 to deliver a personal safety warning, or "Osman letter", to Ann Hancock, who was in a relationship with Mr Webster at the time.

Claire Morris was allegedly murdered by her husband in 1994

He said: "Myself and my colleague attended at Miss Hancock's work. We didn't want to go to her home, we weren't sure if Mr Webster would be there.

"We took her into a room. There was no easy way to do this. We had to hand her the letter and let her read it."

Mr Ogg asked: "What was her reaction?"

He said: "It was a couple of days before Christmas. You could just see her world falling apart in front of her.

"Initially she didn't want to believe it. She took some time and had numerous question most of which we couldn't answer at the time."

The court also heard from witness Jillian Mackie, who said she remembered Mr Webster saying before his first wife's death that it would be easy for a nurse to steal controlled drugs.

Mrs Mackie said: "I didn't really listen to it. I thought that's something you would never do. I just thought it was an odd thing for a nurse to say."

Mr Webster allegedly tried to murder Felicity Drumm in New Zealand in 1999.

He also denies intending to bigamously marry Simone Banarjee, from Oban, Argyll, to gain access to her estate.

The trial continues.