Caldwell murder accused wore women’s underwear, court told
Iain Packer, 50, denies 46 charges including the murder of sex worker Emma Caldwell, 27, in 2005.
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A sex worker identified a murder accused as a punter and said he wore black, silky women’s underwear and “treated women rough”, a court has heard.
Iain Packer, 50, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering sex worker Emma Caldwell, 27, in 2005, and faces 46 charges in total including of sex crimes as well as abduction and assault.
He denies all the charges against him, and has lodged special defences of incrimination, consent, defence of another and self-defence.
The court heard on Thursday that a sex worker had identified a picture of Packer in 2006 as a man who used prostitutes.
The statement, given in 2015, described a stocky man with a Glaswegian accent who “used to drive around for ages before stopping to do business” in a small white van, and did not want to use protection.
The woman, who has since died, described how the man was “really rough with her, grabbing hold of her hair” on two occasions around a week apart after he picked her up in Gallowgate, before the murder of Miss Caldwell.
I tried to leave, the door was locked, my phone was taken away. He came through with a kitchen knife and put it to my chest
She alleged two indecent assaults between 1993 and 2004, near the Tennent’s Brewery in the east end of Glasgow, and claimed Packer had “fantasies” involving wearing women’s underwear and “treating women rough”.
The statement said: “He said ‘I hope you don’t mind’, and he was wearing a pair of black, silky women’s underwear. I didn’t have any issues.
“He was obviously very focused on getting into his fantasies, which was wearing women’s underwear and treating women rough. I knew I would see him again because of the number of times I saw him driving about.”
Another witness who claimed she was paid £30 for sex by Packer told of her initial refusal to help the police investigation.
The single mother met Packer in a sauna and agreed to have sexual intercourse with the accused at her home in the east end of Glasgow, in the front room while her children were upstairs, in 1998 or 1999.
She said she set conditions for the transaction specifying that Packer should use protection and must not touch her intimately, however he allegedly disregarded these although she said she challenged him.
The woman, 54, who cannot be named, said she “lied” to police in 2006 as she was “petrified”.
The witness said: “If police are coming to my door asking questions about an investigation involving murder and prostitution, it wasn’t something I wanted to be involved in.”
She eventually gave a statement in 2021 after telling her children what had happened. Packer is charged with raping her.
Speaking about the allegations under cross-examination, she said: “I didn’t consent to that at all.”
The woman added: “It was risky but at that time I never had any money because my children’s father wasn’t around. I never told anyone because I was totally ashamed and embarrassed.”
A statement she gave in 2006 said: “I didn’t feel threatened or intimidated by him in anyway.”
Under cross-examination on Thursday, the woman said: “No, I lied.”
Another woman, aged 44, alleged Packer held a kitchen knife against her chest in a house in Lanarkshire, during “two weeks of hell” in June and July 2006.
The witness, who cannot be named, said Packer made it “very difficult to leave” and put a knife to her chest.
The woman said: “I tried to leave, the door was locked, my phone was taken away. He came through with a kitchen knife and put it to my chest. He said ‘you’re not going’. I said ‘go ahead and do it’.”
She said Packer then “backed off”.
The witness said Packer was “very grumpy, moody, argumentative” in April 2005, around the time when Miss Caldwell went missing, but said she noticed “nothing out of the ordinary” at the time her body was found.
She said: “There weren’t any major changes that I would have noticed apart from he was grumpy with me.”
Cross-examining, Ronaldo Renucci KC questioned her about Packer’s “demeanour” after May 8 when Miss Caldwell’s body was found, asking: “Was there anything out of the ordinary?”
The witness said: “Not that I noticed at that time.”
Packer is accused of strangling Miss Caldwell with his hands and a cable, assaulting her, compressing her wrists, intending to rape her and murdering her at an area of woodland known as Limefield woods in South Lanarkshire on April 5, 2005.
He is further charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice by allegedly disposing of Miss Caldwell’s body, her mobile phone, clothing and personal belongings, as well as cleaning the interior of a car which belonged to him.
He denies the charges and has lodged a special defence of incrimination.
The trial, before Judge Lord Beckett, continues.