Emma Caldwell’s mother says inquiry into daughter’s murder ‘set up to fail’

The mother of Emma Caldwell, who was killed by prolific sex offender Iain Packer, said an inquiry into her daughter’s murder had been “set up to fail”.

Miss Caldwell, 27, was found dead in Limefield Woods, South Lanarkshire, on May 8 2005, more than a month after she went missing in Glasgow.

Her killer, Iain Packer, was interviewed by detectives that June but was not convicted until almost two decades later, and was convicted of crimes against nine other women, including 11 rapes, and jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years in 2024.

Packer had been reported to police for rape in 1999 but this was not followed up, and he was first reported to have raped an underage girl in 1990, a trial at the High Court in Glasgow was told.

Miss Caldwell’s disappearance and murder was initially investigated by Strathclyde Police, and later Police Scotland after the national force formed in 2013.

In March 2024, Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced a public inquiry into Miss Caldwell’s murder and the failed police investigations.

But the terms of reference were announced this week, and were criticised by Mrs Caldwell in an interview with the Sunday Mail.

Mrs Caldwell said: “This inquiry seems to have been set up to fail, to throw a blanket over what happened instead of shining a light on it.

“Terrible mistakes were made during the first investigation but, for years, police officers and prosecutors knew who killed Emma and did nothing.

“Is that not worthy of inquiry too?”

Detectives interviewed Packer but let him go and focused an investigation on a group of Turkish men, leaving him free to attack other women over the following two decades – he was finally convicted after the Sunday Mail named him as a prime suspect in 2015.

Lord Scott was announced as the inquiry’s chair in April, but a retired detective said the inquiry may “only examine eight years” of events, leaving 11 years potentially unaddressed.

He said that Police Scotland had “just as many if not more” questions to answer than those involved in the original Strathclyde Police investigation.

Gerry Gallacher told the Sunday Mail said: “It took 19 years for Packer to be convicted, but it seems Lord Scott may only examine eight of them.

“To limit the inquiry to the actions of Strathclyde Police seems wilful when Police Scotland have just as many questions to answer if not more.

“We must be told why Iain Packer was freed despite being such an obvious suspect while detectives went after the wrong men.

“This inquiry must also establish why, when the case against those men collapsed, detectives did not return for Packer?”

He said: “Strathclyde police closed the file on that man but Police Scotland kept it closed and, when forced to reopen it by the Sunday Mail, took another nine years to put him in the dock. What is the point of an inquiry that will not tell us why?”

The family’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, urged Ms Constance to review the terms of the inquiry to ensure the decisions of Police Scotland and the Crown Office after 2013 were examined.

Mr Anwar said previously: “If this inquiry is to pursue the truth, then it must look not only at Strathclyde Police but what happened when Police Scotland took over responsibility.

“It is inconceivable that the role of Police Scotland should not be looked at.”

He said: “We now know Packer carried out rapes, sexual offences and assaults many 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.”

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “Emma Caldwell’s family have shown incredible courage and determination following her murder in 2005 and we are absolutely committed to supporting the inquiry and getting her loved ones the answers they deserve.”

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “My thoughts continue to be with Emma Caldwell’s mother Margaret and her family, who have suffered unimaginable heartbreak.

“I can assure the family that Police Scotland inherited the rights and liabilities of the legacy forces and so will be accountable, and are responsible for, the actions of Strathclyde Police in the eyes of the law and of this public inquiry.”