The mother of a murdered woman whose killer was convicted last week after a two decade-long campaign for justice has called for a criminal investigation into the mishandling of the case.
Iain Packer was jailed for life with a minimum of 36 years at the high court in Glasgow on Wednesday for the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005, as well as for 11 rapes and 21 further charges including sexual assaults and abduction.
It emerged during the trial that Packer had been accused of rape and violent attacks on dozens of women going back as far as 1990, but police had failed to act, particularly because many of the victims were sex workers.
The family of Caldwell, who was 27 when she was found dead in woodland 44 miles from her Glasgow home, have called for a public inquiry into failures by the authorities in the investigation of her murder.
Her mother, Margaret Caldwell, is also calling for a criminal investigation led by an outside police force and steered by independent prosecutors to scrutinise the conduct of authorities involved in the case.
She told the Sunday Post: “The only thing the crown office should have been announcing after the trial was an immediate and independent criminal investigation. It is not just my family that needs reassurance about our justice system. Everyone in Scotland needs that reassurance.”
The crown office, which is meeting with Caldwell’s family this week, said a full independent investigation into the handling of the case found there was “insufficient evidence of criminality on the part of any police officer involved in the investigation”.
The first minister, Humza Yousaf, has said a public inquiry into the investigation of Packer was “not off the table”.
Margaret Caldwell, who is also meeting Yousaf and the Scottish justice secretary, Angela Constance, welcomed the possibility of a public inquiry but said there could be no more delay.
She said: “I was 57 when Emma died and I’m 78 now. How long must I wait to be told exactly who failed Emma and why? I have no patience for more talk and empty promises. Only actions count now.”
Caldwell was reported missing by her family in April 2005 and her body was found the following month in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, South Lanarkshire.
In 2015 a Sunday Mail newspaper story called Packer “the forgotten suspect”, and Police Scotland launched a reinvestigation of the case following instruction from the Lord Advocate.
Police Scotland has apologised to the family of Caldwell and Packer’s other victims, admitting they were “let down” by policing and that it was “clear that further investigations should have been carried out into Emma’s murder following the initial inquiry in 2005”.
