IAIN Packer has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 36 years after being found guilty of murdering Emma Caldwell in 2005 following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Packer, 51, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Caldwell, 27, who vanished in Glasgow on April 4, 2005 and whose body was found in Limefield Woods, near Roberton, South Lanarkshire, the following month.
After the sentencing, Police Scotland apologised to the family of Caldwell and other victims of her killer Packer for having been “let down".
A dog walker found 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 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 found guilty of 33 charges against 21 women spanning 26 years. Two charges of sex assault and one of indecent assault were found not proven. The jury took four days to return their verdicts.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Parker denied all of the offences – but admitted during evidence that he indecently assaulted Caldwell.
He said he was “ashamed” of his actions towards her, and described his behaviour towards other sex workers as “disgusting”.
He denied murdering 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.
Parker was 32 when he strangled Caldwell.
After the court adjourned, Emma's mother Margaret Caldwell (above) said: "Thank you everyone."
She was joined by her son, Jamie, her daughter-in-law and grandson along with the family's lawyer Aamer Anwar.
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