Emma Caldwell murder: Public inquiry to be announced into case

Justice Secretary Angela Constance is set to announce an independent public inquiry into the police handling of the Emma Caldwell murder investigation.

Last week Iain Packer, 51, was jailed for life after being found guilty of strangling the 27-year-old in 2005.

He was convicted of offences against a total of 22 women, including 11 rapes.

Emma's family said they believed the police should be held to account for their failures in investigating the case.

It is understood Ms Constance will confirm that a judge-led inquiry will take place in a statement to the Scottish Parliament.

Emma's mother, Margaret Caldwell, 76, this week met First Minister Humza Yousaf and Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell.

On Thursday, she will meet Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC before joining relatives in the public gallery in Holyrood to watch the announcement.

Packer is to appeal against his conviction, which resulted in a minimum jail term of 36 years.

The murder of Ms Caldwell in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, South Lanarkshire, in April 2005, had been one of Scotland's longest-running cold cases.

In 2007 detectives arrested and charged four Turkish men but the case against them collapsed the following year.

Eight years later the Sunday Mail newspaper named Iain Packer, 51, as a "forgotten suspect" in the case.

The former sign fitter contacted BBC Scotland's Sam Poling in 2018 in a bid to clear his name.

But the resulting documentary proved crucial in securing his conviction last month after a six-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Following the guilty verdict, BBC Scotland News revealed that police missed the chance to catch Packer in the months after her murder because senior officers repeatedly dismissed him as a suspect.

Outside the court Emma's family said that women were "failed" by what they described as a "toxic culture of misogyny and corruption" that existed within the then Strathclyde Police.

They added: "Instead of receiving justice and compassion, they were humiliated, dismissed and in some instances arrested, while the police gifted freedom to an evil predator to rape and rape again."

On Wednesday, Chief Constable Jo Farrell apologised to Mrs Caldwell and her family for the policing failures, and backed their call for a full inquiry.

She said: "It is important that Emma's family and the public get answers to the many questions they have.

"I therefore support the family's calls for a public inquiry. I absolutely commit that Police Scotland will fully participate in any further proceedings."

She added that the national force, which replaced the old eight-force model in 2013, had "reflected and learned" from the initial investigation and subsequent re-investigation.

The first minister previously indicated that he would be open to a public inquiry being held.

You can watch Catching a Killer: The Murder of Emma Caldwell on iPlayer now.

You can listen to the podcast series Who Killed Emma? on BBC Sounds.