The family of Emma Caldwell, a murder victim from Scotland, are due to meet with First Minister John Swinney next week to express their apprehension about an independent public inquiry into the case. Iain Packer, a serial sex offender, was convicted last year at the age of 51, having been found guilty of strangling Caldwell in 2005. The Scottish government later announced an investigation into the police handling of the case. However, ahead of the meeting, lawyer Aamer Anwar said that there had been “no progress” in meeting the family’s demand for the appointment of an external judge. He said, “The scale of the crimes and the failures are so catastrophic that only an independent judge outside of the Scottish justice system would suffice.”
Packer was interviewed by detectives a month after the sex worker’s body was found five weeks after her last known sighting in Glasgow, in a wooded area of South Lanarkshire. However, it took 19 years to bring him to justice. The case was one of Scotland’s most high-profile unsolved murders until a BBC Disclosure investigation provided the breakthrough leading to Packer’s arrest. In February last year, Packer was found guilty of offences against a total of 22 women, including 11 rapes. He was subsequently sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison, the second longest sentence handed down by a court in Scotland.
Following the verdict, Police Scotland apologised for the way in which the investigation had been conducted, admitting that it had let down both Emma and other victims. However, the Caldwell family remains unconvinced that there has not been a “deliberate attempt to impose a Scottish judge” in the interim. In a statement, the family said, “The scale of the crimes and the failures are so catastrophic that only an independent judge outside of the Scottish justice system would suffice.” Mr Anwar, who will attend next week’s meeting with Caldwell’s mother and other relatives, has previously described the handling of the murder investigation as the “worst scandal to ever hit the Scottish legal system”.
A spokesman for the Scottish government confirmed that the First Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, Angela Constance, will meet the family to discuss the matter. A formal inquiry, which is likely to involve five separate strands of investigation, will be launched in due course, the spokesman confirmed
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