Serial rapist Iain Packer jailed for life for the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005

'I can breathe again,' Emma Caldwell's mother tells ITV News' Louise Scott, as Ian Packer is convicted of her daughter's murder

A serial rapist has been jailed for life for the murder of Emma Caldwell, and has been found guilty of attacking multiple other women.

Iain Packer will serve a minimum 36 years for the murder of Miss Caldwell, who went missing from Glasgow in April 2005.

Her body was found in an isolated area of woodland, near Roberton, South Lanarkshire the following month.

Police Scotland has apologised to the families of Miss Caldwell and Packer's other victims for failures in policing at the time the crimes were committed.

Packer was first interviewed by police the month after Miss Caldwell’s body was found.

But the force turned their attention to four Turkish men, who appeared in court in July 2007.

This was one of Police Scotland's most expensive and complex investigations ever- with £4 million spent on accusing four innocent men, according to lawyers representing Ms Caldwell's family.

After Packer was released he committed some "19 sexual offences or assaults" against women.

Assistant Chief Constable Bex Smith said in a statement: “Emma Caldwell, her family and many other victims, were let down by policing in 2005. For that we are sorry.

“A significant number of women and girls who showed remarkable courage to speak up at that time also did not get the justice and support they needed and deserved from Strathclyde Police.”

After the court case, lawyers speaking on behalf of Miss Caldwell's mother said Police Scotland had "blood on their hands".

Miss Caldwell vanished days after telling her mother Margaret about her hopes to overcome a heroin addiction, which she funded with sex work in Glasgow.

She came from a close-knit family - her struggles with drugs began following the death of her sister in her early 20s.

She saw both parents twice a week and spoke to them daily.

Her family reported her missing after she failed to respond to attempts by them to change a planned meeting.

A dog walker found Miss Caldwell’s body in woodland, with a “garotte” around her neck, on May 8, 2005.

During Packer’s trial, the court heard a soil sample taken in 2021 from the site where Miss Caldwell’s body was found was a “97% match” with soil found in his blue work van, and Packer was charged by police in February 2022.

Packer was also convicted of raping 11 women among dozens of other charges, following a six-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

In total a jury found him guilty of 33 charges, relating to 22 victims, while three other charges, the court heard against him, were not proven.

He denied all the charges in court, accusing all the women of lying, but admitted during evidence he indecently assaulted Miss Caldwell. He said he was “ashamed” of his actions towards her.

But he denied murdering Miss Caldwell in his evidence, telling the court: “It wasn’t me who killed her. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything to her.”

The trial heard evidence from multiple women about Packer’s brutal attacks on them.

Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC described Packer as a “violent” and “obsessive” user of sex workers with an “unhealthy addiction” to procuring their services.

Speaking outside the court, lawyers for Ms Caldwell's family said: "A toxic culture of misogyny and corruption meant the police failed so many women and girls who came forward to speak up against Packer.

"Instead of receiving justice and compassion, they were humiliated, dismissed and in some instances arrested, whilst the police gifted freedom to an evil predator to rape and rape again. "We now know Packer carried out rapes, sexual offences and assaults some 19 times after Emma’s murder in 2005.

"Margaret believes that officers sabotaged an investigation into Packer for a decade and have blood on their hands, for far too long they have remained in the shadows, but must now answer for their betrayal."

Assistant Chief Constable Bex Smith said: “Police Scotland launched a re-investigation of the case in 2015 after instruction from the Lord Advocate.

“It is clear that further investigations should have been carried out into Emma’s murder following the initial enquiry in 2005. The lack of investigation until 2015 caused unnecessary distress to her family and all those women who had come forward to report sexual violence.

“It is the courage, resilience and determination shown by Emma’s family, in particular her parents William and Margaret, and all those who survived Iain Packer’s horrific catalogue of offending that got us to where we are today.

“William is, sadly, no longer here to see this day, but I hope this verdict gives Margaret and all those affected by this case, the justice they deserve.”

She added: “Iain Packer was a calculating sexual predator who targeted women over many years. It is hard to comprehend how anyone could carry out such despicable, ruthless acts.

“He took Emma’s life for his own gratification in the most appalling circumstances and cruelly left her body in remote woods hoping to cover his tracks.”

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