Emma Caldwell murder: Serial rapist Iain Packer loses bid to reduce prison sentence | UK news

The attempt of a serial rapist who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Emma Caldwell has failed.

Iain Packer, 51, was sentenced to a minimum term of 36 years behind bars in February after being convicted of a series of violent offences.

Next to Double murderer Andrew InnesIt is the second longest sentence ever imposed by a Scottish court, after the minimum sentence of 37 years that the “World's End” killer Angus Sinclair received in 2014.

In addition to the murder of 27-year-old Ms Caldwell in 2005, Packer was also found guilty of 11 counts of rape against nine women and 21 other offences in a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

Before the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Packer's lawyers argued that the sentence against Lord Beckett was “excessive”.

Defence counsel Gordon Jackson KC told judges Lady Dorrian, Lord Matthews and Lady Wise: 'I ask whether it is acceptable in a civilised society to tell a man in his fifties that, no matter what happens, he will not be released until he is over 80?

“I say it's not. I say in a civilized society… we shouldn't do that.”

After consulting colleagues, Lady Dorrian decided that the appeal was refused.

A written judgment outlining the reasons for the decision will be published shortly.

Aamer Anwar, the lawyer for Ms Caldwell's mother Margaret, said: “Mr Packer evaded justice for nearly 19 years but will die a convicted murderer and serial rapist.”

“Packer's name will one day fade into dust, long after Emma's name lives on.

“Without Margaret Caldwell’s tireless efforts, any hope for justice would have been buried forever.”

Ms. Caldwell disappeared in April 2005, just days after telling her mother about her hopes of beating her heroin addiction, which had developed after the death of her sister.

She disappeared in Glasgow while working as a sex worker. Her body was discovered the following month in Limefield Woods, South Lanarkshire.

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Packer was questioned by investigators in June of this year, but he was not convicted until nearly two decades later, after cold case investigators re-examined the case in 2015.

After Packer's conviction, Sky News heard statements from several former sex workers who had raised concerns about his dangerous sexual behavior with police years before Ms. Caldwell's murder.

police Scotland apologised to Ms Caldwell's family and Packer's other victims for the way the original investigation was handled by the then Strathclyde Police, saying they had been “let down”.

The Scottish Government announced in March that a public inquiry would take place into the police's approach to murder investigations.

Mr Anwar said Packer was “now irrelevant to the Caldwell family” and continued to demand that the coroner should be based outside the Scottish jurisdiction.

The lawyer added: “For far too long, those who set a murderer free have remained in the dark, but now they must face public scrutiny. The only forum for this is a public inquiry led by a judge.”

“There should be no hiding place for those who have obstructed justice. Packer's victims deserve nothing less.”