A public inquiry is to be held into the police investigation of the murder of Emma Caldwell after it took almost two decades to bring her killer to justice, Scotland’s justice secretary has announced.
Angela Constance said an independent judge-led statutory public inquiry will be held to examine the police response to the murder, after both she and Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf met with Miss Caldwell’s mother earlier this week.
Miss Caldwell was killed by serial rapist Iain Packer in 2005. However, while he was interviewed by police officers the month after her body was found in May that year, it was only last week that Packer was convicted of her murder – along with 11 rapes and 21 further charges, including sexual assaults and abduction, involving multiple women over 26 years. Packer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday.
Emma Caldwell’s mother Margaret Caldwell along with her family and their lawyer, Aamer Anwar arrive at Bute House for a meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf on Tuesday
(Getty Images)
Police Scotland has already apologised to the family of Miss Caldwell and his other victims, saying they were “let down” by policing in 2005.
Ms Constance told members of the Scottish Parliament that the 27-year-old’s mother Margaret Caldwell said to her: “My daughter Emma and the many victims who so courageously spoke up deserve nothing less than a robust, independent public inquiry and a judge who will act without fear or favour.
“There are those who say that such inquiries take too long. My family have struggled for 19 years to get justice and we will wait however long it takes to see the truth, and will accept nothing less.”
Iain Packer was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday
(PA Media)
Miss 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.
Mrs Caldwell said that her husband Willie died of cancer and “with a broken heart” in 2011 before seeing justice for his daughter.
She said her daughter always said she would come home and sort herself out, adding “every day it breaks my heart” that she never got the chance.
Following Packer’s conviction on Wednesday, Assistant Chief Constable for major crime and public protection 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 inquiry 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.”
The Independent has contacted Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for comment.
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