The killer of Emma Caldwell has had his appeal against a minimum 36 year prison sentence thrown out by the courts.
Iain Packer was sentenced in March this year for the abduction and murder of the 27-year-old, as well as admitting a charge of sexual assault.
In total Packer, 51, was facing 36 charges of physical and sexual violence against 25 women, and was found guilty on 33 of them.
He lodged an appeal but that was thrown out by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday, August 28.
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Emma Caldwell's family secures public inquiry into police murder investigation
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Emma Caldwell murderer Iain Packer sentenced to life in prison with 36 year minimum
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'Robbed of creating a lifetime of memories – there will never be any justice in that'
Aamer Anwar, the solicitor for Emma's mother, Margaret said: "Today at the Appeal Court in Edinburgh, Iain Packer who in March 2024 was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years in prison, had his appeal against sentence refused. Packer was found guilty of 33 charges against a total of 22 women, including Emma’s murder and 11 rapes.
"Mr Packer evaded justice for nearly 19 years but will die a convicted killer and serial rapist. Packer’s name will one day turn to dust, long after Emma’s name lives on. Had it not been for Margaret Caldwell’s tireless campaigning, then any hope of justice would have been buried forever.
"For far too long those responsible for gifting a killer his freedom, have remained in the shadows, but they must face the glare of public scrutiny, the only forum for that will be before a statutory judge led public inquiry.
"The Scottish Government appear desperate to appoint a Scottish Judge, despite the demands of Emma’s mother and cross-parliamentary support for a judge out-with Scotland’s jurisdiction, for which of course there is precedent- Justice must be seen to be done.
"The Police and Crown Office presided over years of the misery, that saw multiple women raped and a killer emboldened by a belief that he had lifelong immunity. Whatever the jobs, addictions or vulnerabilities of Emma Caldwell or the 22 women who gave evidence, it should never have been used as a justification for sexual violence or to treat them as a second-class citizen – they mattered.
"Packer is now irrelevant to the Caldwell family, and the focus should move to those police officers and Crown officials who betrayed the most fundamental duty of all to protect life. There should be no hiding place for those who perverted the course of justice, the victims of Packer deserve nothing less.”
Packer evaded justice for the murder, which took place in 2005, for close to two decades.
Caldwell, who had turned to prostitution to pay for a heroin habit, was reported missing in April of that year, with her body discovered in Limefield Woods around 8 miles south west of Biggar, South Lanarkshire on May 8.
No DNA traces were found and Strathclyde Police spent £4m investigating four Turkish men who they alleged had strangled the 27-year-old at a Glasgow café.
The case collapsed when a translation purporting to prove the men had spoken about the murder of Caldwell was proven to be incorrect.
Packer had been questioned in 2005 but was initially ruled out of the investigation.
In 2018 he spoke to the BBC's Disclosure where he denied the killing and having been violent with women.
He was not arrested and charged for the murder until 2022.
Police Scotland said after he was sentenced: "“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.
“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.
“We have reflected and learnt from the initial investigation and subsequent re–investigation."
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