Murderer Malcolm Webster will never be buried in an Aberdeenshire cemetery with the wife he killed, council chiefs have ruled.
The 54-year-old murdered Claire Morris by drugging her, putting her in a car and crashing it down an embankment near Tarves, before setting it on fire while she lay unconscious inside.
As part of a 17-year charade in which he played the grieving husband, Webster buried her at Tarves Cemetery and erected a headstone to his “dear wife”.
As soon as the former nurse was jailed for Ms Morris’s murder, her brother, Peter, began fighting to have the stone removed.
Aberdeenshire Council told him it would have to gain Webster’s permission for this as he owned the lair – and he refused.
The authority also warned that there was a possibility the killer could be buried at the site – prompting Mr Morris to seek legal advice from the Aberdeen Law Project, which helped him eventually to remove the memorial. Now, the council has ruled that Webster, who is appealing his conviction and 30-year jail sentence, gave up the right to be buried there when he murdered Ms Morris in 1994.
A spokeswoman said: “The murder conviction against Malcolm Webster has rendered his contract with the council, as relating to the lair at Tarves, void.
“As such, he would have no right to be buried in the same lair as Claire Morris.
“We are monitoring the ongoing appeal proceedings.”
Last night, Mr Morris, 50, welcomed the decision and said he hoped it would set a precedent for similar cases in the future.
“I’m delighted that Aberdeenshire Council have finally come to this conclusion, and we’re grateful to them for it,” he said.
“I shall now be applying for ownership of the lair myself since they have said Webster’s contract is void.
“I’ve been fighting this battle for two-and-half years.
“Although it is a rare occurrence for a convicted murderer to own the grave of the person he murdered, I hope the council’s decision will set a precedent across the UK so that no other family has to go through this to get a solution.”
Webster was convicted of murdering Ms Morris, attempting to kill his second wife, Felicity Drumm, and a string of fraud and fire-raising charges in 2011.
He appeared in court last week to appeal them and judges will issue their decision in the coming weeks.