Emma Caldwell: Humza Yousaf ‘very seriously’ mulls inquiry into police failures
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Humza Yousaf has said he was “very” seriously considering ordering a public inquiry into the police’s “appalling” investigation into Emma Caldwell’s murder after being challenged by her mother.
The First Minister said he was weighing up ordering a judge-led inquiry into police’s failure to catch serial rapist Iain Packer for almost two decades despite a mass of evidence that he was responsible for the April 2005 murder.
They ignored warnings about Packer from sex workers and wrongly focused on four Turkish men, allowing him to continue with an “extreme campaign of sexual violence” against vulnerable women.
Speaking the day after Packer was convicted and jailed for a minimum of 36 years, the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross told First Minister’s Questions it was “one of Scotland’s worst policing scandals”.
Mr Ross told MSPs it was “shocking” that police had launched a surveillance operation targeting journalists and whistleblowers who disclosed the evidence implicating Packer.
He read out a statement provided to the Tories by Margaret Caldwell, Emma’s mother, who said: “They knew it was Iain Packer as far back as 2006, but they gave him the freedom to carry on attacking and raping vulnerable women like my Emma”.
In a direct challenge to the First Minister, she said: “If Mr Yousaf genuinely cares about victims and my Emma then he has no other option but to organise an independent public inquiry. With respect, what are you waiting for?”
Mrs Caldwell added: “A judge-led public inquiry that acts without fear or favour – that is the very least my Emma and the many women who spoke up deserve.”
A former stable worker who had a middle-class upbringing in Erskine, Emma Caldwell turned to heroin and prostitution after her older sister, Karen, died of cancer.
It has emerged that numerous sex workers told police that Packer had attacked them and taken them to the remote location where Ms Caldwell was murdered but their testimony was dismissed.
Her mother, 76, concluded: “For far too long those in the police or Crown who failed us have remained in the shadows. Only a judge-led public inquiry will reveal the corruption, the criminality and the motivation.”
Mr Yousaf told MSPs: “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 accepted that the victims of Packer, who was first interviewed by police the month after Miss Caldwell’s body was found, were “ultimately let down” by police.
“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,” said the First Minister.
However, he said he wanted to meet Mrs Caldwell and her solicitor, Aamer Anwar, before making a decision. The First Minister also warned there was an “ongoing legal process”, with Packer having the right to appeal.
Packer was found guilty of strangling Ms Caldwell, 27, and leaving her naked body in remote Lanarkshire woods about 40 miles from her Glasgow home.
In addition, the 51-year-old was found guilty of 32 charges against 22 women, including 11 rapes and multiple sexual assaults.
But Mr Ross said the prospect of an appeal did not alter the facts around the now-defunct Strathclyde Police’s botched investigation and urged Mr Yousaf to act immediately.
He said: “Humza Yousaf must agree to a judge-led inquiry to uncover everything that went wrong in this appalling scandal. Emma Caldwell, her grieving family and Packer’s many victims were betrayed by what is one of Scotland’s worst policing scandals.”
The Scottish Tory leader argued that a judge from outside Scotland should preside over the inquiry as “these were not mere accidents by Police Scotland and the Crown Office. It seems evidence was deliberately ignored and suppressed”.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, told MSPs that Packer had committed 19 rapes, sexual offences or assaults after murdering Ms Caldwell.
He said: “This injustice has spanned 19 years and in that time we have had five lord advocates and six chief constables.
“There are many troubling issues with this case. Misogyny, prejudice and the failure to listen to women coming forward with evidence.”
Mr Sarwar cited a 2020 independent review of Police Scotland’s complaints system, saying it had found “evidence of misogyny, racism and serious discrimination issues.”
Sir Iain Livingstone, the force’s then chief constable, admitted last year it was institutionally racist and sexist.
Mr Yousaf said Scotland had “a serious problem with misogyny” and admitted there was a “strong argument that the inquiry is led by somebody” elsewhere.
The exchanges at Holyrood came after a former senior Scottish Police Federation (SPF) head expressed concern that the force would act the same way and “look for its own reputation first” if a similar case happened again.
Calum Steele, who retired as SPF general secretary in 2023, said that following a Sunday Mail newspaper story which branded Packer “the forgotten suspect” in 2015, police had failed to “concentrate wholly and exclusively on the reinvestigation of the murder” and had instead focused on finding journalistic sources quoted in the article.
