PRESS STATEMENT – 29TH FEBRUARY 2024 – MOTHER OF EMMA CALDWELL DEMANDS PUBLIC INQUIRY- THE FIRST MINISTER RESPONDS AT FMQs

MOTHER OF EMMA CALDWELL DEMANDS PUBLIC INQUIRY- THE FIRST MINISTER RESPONDS AT FMQs

 At First Minister Questions today Humza Yousaf stated that a public inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell murderer Iain Packer is “not off the table”.

Iain Packer, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years on Wednesday after being found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering the 27-year-old in 2005.

He was also convicted of 11 rapes against nine women and 21 further charges including sexual assaults and abduction, over 26 years, which judge Lord Beckett described as an “extraordinary campaign of sexual violence”.

At First Minister’s Questions both Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, both calling for a judge-led public inquiry, presided over by a judge from outside Scotland to investigate police failings.

The First Minister said he was scheduled to meet with Emma’s mother, Margaret Caldwell, and her lawyer, Aamer Anwar, “urgently” soon and would want to understand her wishes on the issue.

Mr Ross read out quotes from a conversation with Margaret Caldwell, who asked the FM leader “what are you waiting for?” when it comes to setting up the probe.

The Tory leader said: “Margaret had a message for the First Minister, she said this, ‘If Mr Yousaf genuinely cares about the victims and my Emma, then he has no other option but to organise an independent public inquiry’.

“And she continued, ‘With respect, what are you waiting for?'”

But Mr Yousaf strongly hinted at the calling of an inquiry as he addressed the chamber, but acknowledged there was a chance Packer could appeal the sentence.

“A judge-led public inquiry is something that we’re exploring, is absolutely not off the table and is something we’re giving very serious consideration to given the systemic failings in this case,” he said.

Mr Ross pushed the First Minister to come back with an answer “within days”, urging him to push for a judge from outside Scotland to be appointed, something Mr Yousaf said would be “worth of consideration”.

Responding, the First Minister said they would “come back urgently” to update MSPs, adding “women have waited far too long for justice”.

Mr Yousaf also accepted that the victims of Packer – who was first interviewed by police the month after Miss Caldwell’s body was found, and who repeatedly lied to investigators – were “ultimately let down” by police.

The First Minister added: “There are many questions to answer why Packer was able to evade justice (and) continue to commit many crimes as he did for so long.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also pressed the First Minister on the issue of who should lead any inquiry.

He quoted Margaret Caldwell’s, who said women who had raised the alarm about Packer were “humiliated, dismissed and, in some instances, arrested whilst the police gifted freedom to an evil predator to rape and rape again”.

Mr Sarwar said that for any inquiry to be “truly independent” it would have to be led by someone outside the Scottish justice system.

The First Minister said he agreed with Mr Sarwar on many points, saying: “We still in Scotland have a serious problem with misogyny.

“And I know there’s a lot of cross-party consensus around some of the actions that the Scottish Government is taking forward to tackle violence against women and girls. There is a strong argument that the inquiry is led by somebody outwith Scotland, so I don’t remove that option from the table.”

Aamer Anwar, Solicitor for Margaret Caldwell since 2016 and formerly solicitor for Mr. Oncu who was falsely accused of Emma’s murder in 2007 stated the following:-

“This family had until 2016 lost all hope of justice, after over a decade of campaigning and taking on the most powerful institutions in this country, they felt betrayed, as do so many women who courageously spoke up- they will now accept nothing less than truth, transparency and accountability that can only come from a Judge led Statutory Public Inquiry. Margaret Caldwell has lived and breathed this case for nearly 19years, she is tired, frustrated and angry and will no longer be a passive spectator to any attempt by the Scottish Government or Crown Office to rubberstamp flawed inquiries or a whitewash. The message is simple if a public inquiry is not off the table, then stop using the word review and make a commitment to the Margaret and the many women who exposed the truth and delivered justice for Emma’s family.

Since 2005 there have been 5 Lord Advocates,  6 Solicitor Generals and 4 Chief Constables, it is inconceivable that none of these individuals concerned themselves with what happened on their watch. The failure to disclose relevant information to the family offended against the ECHR Article 2 requirement that the family of the deceased be involved in any ex-post facto investigation. They were unable to effectively participate in the process conducted by Crown Office or the Police without proper disclosure.

This is not simply of the police just saying sorry in the belief they can move on as it was all about 2005- the reality is that for over a decade the police engaged in a concerted cover up, followed by Police Scotland carrying out unlawful spying on Sunday Mail journalists and police officers who had identified Iain Packer as the murderer.  In that whole period the Crown ordered no further investigation into the killer or the police- it must beg the question why, what were they trying to hide.

For over ten years, the police perpetuated a lie, shutting down an investigation into the real killer, spying on journalists of the Sunday Mail and persecuting detectives who had done their duty in going after Packer. When the case collapsed in 2008 the Police chose not to do anything further, other than maintain the lie to Emma’s parents that the Turkish men were guilty. We now know Packer carried out rapes, sexual offences and assaults some 19 times after Emma’s murder in 2005. Margaret believes that officers sabotaged an investigation into Packer for a decade and have blood on their hands, for far too long they have remained in the shadows but must now answer for their betrayal.

Yesterday Margaret Caldwell called on the Scottish Government to order an independent judge led public inquiry into what went wrong. The scale of the crimes and the failures are so catastrophic and vast, that nothing less than a robust judicial public inquiry will suffice- she welcomes the comments of the First Minister but for her time is of the essence. Neither the Police nor Crown Office, nor anyone connected to the police can be allowed or trusted to investigate themselves and their former bosses. Margaret would welcome any move to select an independent judge from elsewhere in the UK to conduct the statutory pubic inquiry.

Police officers stand accused of a shameful betrayal of these women to protect their own careers and of alleged criminality that allowed one of the UK’s worst sex offenders to evade justice for 18 years. Justice must be seen to be done. A full judicial public inquiry under the Inquiries Act must be ordered by the Government, so as to ensure that the full facts of the circumstances of Emma’s death are brought into the public domain, including on the failure of the Police to arrest Iain Packer for over a decade., allowing him to rape again and again. The inquiry should also include an investigation into the handling by Crown Office and Police Scotland/Strathclyde Police of the facts pertinent to the case since Emma’s murder death. 

In the coming days we will meet with the First Minister, Lord Advocate and Chief Constable to demand a public inquiry. Nobody should be allowed to evade accountability or frustrate the investigation process and Emma’s mother Margaret will not rest until she has the truth.  If anything, it should be clear to the Scottish Government that a public inquiry is in reality the only body capable of revealing the truth, and without truth there can never truly be justice.”