PRESS STATEMENT – 7TH MARCH 2024 – BY AAMER ANWAR ON BEHALF OF MARGARET CALDWELL-FOLLOWING MEETING WITH THE LORD ADVOCATE

PRESS STATEMENT BY AAMER ANWAR ON BEHALF OF MARGARET CALDWELL-FOLLOWING MEETING WITH THE LORD ADVOCATE

Today the family paid tribute to the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC and her prosecution team who have been unwavering in their commitment to justice, without her leadership, the work of Crown Office and the present police murder team, justice would have been buried forever.

The family were once again filled with confidence by the Lord Advocate, she did not flinch from giving them the truth about the failures of the Police and Crown Office.

I can confirm it is not the case there is no evidence of criminality by the police.

Today we were told, the true facts are that criminality has never been fully investigated by Police Scotland.

Today the Lord Advocate confirmed that in the coming days an external police force with no connections to key officers in this case will be instructed after dialogue with Police Scotland.

The Lord Advocate confirmed that Emma Caldwell case was referred to her in 2008 for prosecution of the 4 Turkish men by the then Principal Home Advocate Depute Brian McConnachie.

Crown Counsel Dorothy Bain after further investigation decided that there was no case against the Turkish men, she took the view there was insufficient evidence and went to a Law Officer, then Solicitor General Lord Mulholland to justify her decision.

The name Iain Packer appeared in 2008 as unused material in police papers.

The Lord Advocate confirmed that had the Solicitor General and her instruction been followed through by Strathclyde Police, on the available evidence in 2008 the Lord Advocate and her team believe there was a sufficiency for prosecuting Iain Packer for murder.

The Lord Advocate apologised today and said Crown Office should have done more and failed to do after 2008.

Today the family can confirm that that was sufficient evidence to prosecute Iain Packer in 2008, but the police appeared more interested in perpetuating a lie than ensuring a dangerous killer and serial rapist was put behind bars.

The Lord Advocate confirmed that multiple women came forward who would have added to the evidence of rapes and attacks.

There is no doubt on the basis of evidence available in 2008, had the Police listened to Crown Office, Packer may well have been serving a life sentence.

In 2008 it was recognised there was grave deficiencies, and there was deep concerns about the quality of a police officer’s translations and the quality of evidence. The Lord Advocate confirmed that Iain Packer was the most prominent suspect and he had not been pursued by the police.

Dorothy Bain in 2008 asked the police to reinvestigate the case and that instruction was approved by Lord Mullholland, then solicitor general, that instruction was passed onto Strathclyde Police- and that new police officers should be brought in to investigate case and that officers should be referred to professional standards,

The Lord Advocate says it is impossible to work out what happened after that instruction was given. We know the answer is nothing happened and the police cover up continued.

The case was marked as ‘protected and closed’ by the police in 2009

The Lord Advocate has no information as what happened after that period and why the police failed to act.

The Cold Case Unit in Strathclyde police did not refer Emma’s case in 2012 onwards.

There has never been a proper robust and independent investigation of whether Strathclyde police sabotaged the evidence against Iain Packer.

The Lord Advocate confirmed that Independent and external police force will be instructed to investigate the actions of the police with due diligence to ensure no connections to officers one of whom is the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Lord Advocate conformed today that the allegations I have made on behalf the family, that there was a deliberate sabotage of the case against Packer and  attempts to pervert the course of justice will now be robustly investigated.

The confirmation that there was no attempt made by Police Scotland to investigate these matters, the family believes is a damning indictment of the Police Scotland.

Emma and the many women whose names are not known were part of our families and communities. They were important to their loved ones and friends, and they should have been important to the police, but instead were betrayed.

To date the Police investigation has not looked at the ‘elephant in the room’.Today is not about Packer he is now irrelevant, it about the police who betrayed Emma and so many other victims.

The Lord Advocate confirmed that there will be complete cooperation with inquiry, however as the Lord Advocate is likely to be a witness in the public inquiry, the solicitor general will be acting going forward.

Let me make it clear there is no criticism of this Lord Advocate, the family believes without her and her team led by Richard Goddard KC there would never have been justice for Emma, her family and the many victims, however there is no time limit on justice and any officer found to have engaged in criminality must face the prospect of imprisonment and nothing less.