Emma Caldwell murder accused told BBC journalist he 'wasn't violent'

The man accused of murdering Emma Caldwell told a BBC journalist he was "not a violent person", a court heard.

Iain Packer also told Samantha Poling he had never been outside Glasgow with a sex worker - despite telling police years earlier he had.

At the time Ms Poling was questioning him for a documentary about Ms Caldwell in February 2019.

Mr Packer, 51, denies 46 charges involving multiple women, including Ms Caldwell's murder in 2005.

The body of Ms Caldwell was found in a ditch in Limefield Woods in Biggar, South Lanarkshire.

Ms Poling told the High Court in Glasgow how Mr Packer had approached her in 2018 after she had filmed a documentary about Police Scotland.

The court heard he was "unhappy" about media reporting about him three years earlier and wanted to "clear his name" of any alleged involvement in the killing.

Mr Packer also believed six statements he had given police in connection with Ms Caldwell's death had been made public.

He agreed to be interviewed twice on camera by Ms Poling - clips from which were shown to the jury.

The jurors heard Mr Packer say he used sex workers but that he had never taken them away from Glasgow as "time was money" for the women.

The trial previously heard that Mr Packer told detectives that he had driven to an area in Lanarkshire with women, including "six times" with Ms Caldwell.

He was also said to have directed police to the remote spot in 2007.

In the TV interview, Mr Packer alleged he had never been to the area other than when police took him there.

Ms Poling told prosecutor Richard Goddard KC: "He was adamant and repeated that he had never been there other than the occasion with the police."

Mr Packer also insisted that he had "never hit a woman" in his life.

He stated at one stage: "I am not a violent person" and said violence "does not solve anything".

Asked about Ms Caldwell during the interview, he said he paid her for sex 10 or 11 times.

Ronnie Renucci, defending, later questioned the journalist, who said she had been in contact with other women relevant to the case after the programmed aired.

The KC put to her: "You understood what Mr Packer was trying to do was clear his name?"

Ms Poling said: "I believe so."

Asked whether Mr Packer had concerns about his portrayal in the media, Ms Poling said: "That is correct".

The trial earlier heard that Mr Packer was "white as a sheet" after being interviewed by Ms Poling about Ms Caldwell's murder.

One of Iain Packer's former partners told the High Court in Glasgow that he looked as if he was being "found out".

The woman said she had gone with him to the interview but was not allowed to join him while it took place.

She said when Mr Packer had come out of the interview "you could see something had gone badly wrong".

"He was saying 'they are blaming me for Emma'. They had kept asking the same questions over and over again," she said.

"My gut instinct was this is not going away."

The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.