Emma Caldwell murder accused 'guilty of appalling offences' court told

Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC made the claim in his closing speech at the trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The 51-year-old denies a total of 36 charges of physical and sexual violence including the murder of Miss Caldwell at remote Limefield Woods in Biggar, South Lanarkshire on April 5, 2005.

The women mainly consist of 17 sex workers - some since passed away - and those he was living with at the time, as well as a then-teenage girl he allegedly raped.

The accusations span between 1990 and 2016.

On day 23 of the trial, Mr Goddard began by referring to the account given by one woman of what he described as a “terrifying attack” by Packer.

This was said to have involved him choking her during the incident.

The murder of Miss Caldwell is said to include Packer strangling the sex worker with his hands and a cable.

Regarding the incident with the woman, Mr Goddard stated: “That is violence which comes to be horribly familiar in this trial as the evidence went on.”

He said the charges - involving 10 different offences - were committed by the “same man” over a 26-year period.

Mr Goddard: “That man is Iain Packer. He says they are lying and they have all made it up.

“From the evidence, he was a sexually violent man and has been for most of his adult life.

“He was an incorrigible user of sex workers and was violent to them.

“The violence escalated, time and time again, by seizing hold of their necks and choking them.

“All of this escalated to the murder of Emma Caldwell…her body left in a location extremely remote from Glasgow city centre where this man operated.”

The advocate depute said individual facts and circumstances support each other to present a picture of “a litany of appalling offences against vulnerable young women”.

He added that - no matter who someone is or does for a living - that the law “treats everyone equally”.

Mr Goddard: “That is perhaps all the more important for anyone who finds themselves involved in sex work.

“The women we heard in this case were placing themselves at enormous risk.”

He stated that if anyone believed sex without consent with a prostitute was not an issue then “that way of thinking has no place in our law or modern country”.

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Mr Goddard said there was a “cluster” of offences involving sex workers between 2004-06 - “all the more significant” the prosecutor claimed as this was around the time of Miss Caldwell’s disappearance.

The advocate depute further spoke of the time between the alleged offences and police being alerted to them.

Mr Goddard: “Rather depressingly, many of them (the women) thought there was little point reporting to the authorities as they felt no one would listen.

“That it was part and parcel of their daily lives which was a tragedy.

“There may be good reasons why people did not disclose right away what was going on.”

He again mentioned how the women were from unconnected backgrounds and different walks of life.

The “only thing” between them was what Packer allegedly done to them.

He said the libelled rape and abuse of the teenage girl  - his first alleged victim - in the early 1990s bore “similarities” to what others would experience “at the hands of the man” in years ahead.

Mr Goddard later stated there would be no dispute that Miss Caldwell was murdered with Packer said to be responsible at the woods 40 miles from Glasgow city centre.

He said her throat was “manually” gripped or “in conjunction” with a ligature. It was done “so hard” that it bent the cartilage of the neck and the internal structures.

Mr Goddard: “All of that demonstrates an intention to kill or, at the very least, the attacker did not care if Emma Caldwell lived or died if he did that to her.

“What other possible interpretation is there?”

He added Miss Caldwell had her clothes removed and left lying in a ditch before a dog walker found her on May 8, 2005.

The trial, before Judge Lord Beckett, continues.