A serial rapist who was sentenced to life for the murder of Emma Caldwell is planning to appeal against his conviction and sentence, court officials have said.
Iain Packer, 51, was jailed for life with a minimum terms of 36 years after being convicted of murdering sex worker Miss Caldwell in 2005.
He was also found guilty of 11 charges of rape against nine women and convicted of 21 other charges following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, and is believed to be Scotland’s worst sex offender.
On Monday, he lodged notice of a bid to appeal against his conviction and sentence, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said.
Iain Packer was found guilty of murdering Emma Caldwell in 2005 (Image: PA)
Miss Caldwell vanished on April 4, 2005, days after telling her mother, Margaret, that she planned to go to rehab to get off of heroin.
Her naked body was found in Limefield Woods, near Roberton, South Lanarkshire, on May 8 2005, with a “garotte” around her neck, although a pathologist believed she may have been manually strangled.
READ MORE: Emma Caldwell's mother calls for criminal investigation
Packer had been reported to police for rape in 1999 but nothing was done, and he was first reported to have raped an underage girl in 1990.
Judge Lord Beckett said Packer acted on “pathological, selfish and criminal sexual desires”, causing “extreme and enduring suffering for so many women and their families”.
Miss Caldwell was described by her brother, Jamie, as “wanting to help the vulnerable” while Packer “looked for vulnerability and exploited it”, the sentencing judge said.
Margaret Caldwell (centre), mother of murder victim Emma Caldwell, with family members and their lawyer, Aamer Anwar (right), arriving at Bute House to meet the First Minister Humza Yousaf (Image: PA)
Mrs Caldwell has campaigned to get justice for her youngest daughter, who turned to heroin after losing her older sister, Karen, to cancer in 1998, for nearly 20 years.
READ MORE: Iain Packer found guilty of murdering Emma Caldwell
She has called for a public inquiry into the investigation of Packer which left him free to attack other women, and met with First Minister Humza Yousaf at Bute House on Tuesday before a meeting with Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: “Court can confirm an IIA (Intimation of intention to Appeal) against conviction and sentence has been lodged on 04.03.24 on behalf of Iain Packer.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel