Emma Caldwell murder trial told accused took woman to body site

Iain Packer denies killing sex worker Emma Caldwell and charges against 27 other women

A sex worker had a panic attack while directing police to the woods where Emma Caldwell's body was found, a murder trial has been told.

A jury heard that the woman told police that Iain Packer - who is accused of killing Ms Caldwell - drove her more than once to the area south of Glasgow.

She described him as "Jekyll and Hyde" character after he got angry when she refused to strip naked.

Mr Packer denies killing Ms Caldwell and 46 charges against 27 other women.

He is alleged to have murdered Ms Caldwell, a 27-year-old sex worker, at Limefield Woods in Biggar, South Lanarkshire in April 2005

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Retired detective constable Stuart Hall told the High Court in Glasgow that he and a colleague met with another sex worker in February 2006 who took them to the same woods.

Mr Hall said they collected the woman and her partner in Glasgow headed onto the M8 and then the M74.

They stayed on the motorway for up to an hour before ending up at the the junction for Happendon Services in South Lanarkshire.

Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC asked Mr Hall what her reaction was at that point.

He said: "She took what she described as a panic attack. She was crying and became hysterical, hyperventilating.

"We could see she was visibly distressed."

Iain Packer is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow

When the journey resumed the woman continued to direct and point out landmarks along the way.

They travelled 41 miles from Glasgow ending up "down quite remote countryside".

Mr Hall told the court the woman seemed "terrified" when they got to the area where she said Mr Packer had taken her.

The advocate depute then asked: "This was the same place the body of Emma Caldwell - also from Glasgow - had been found?"

Mr Hall replied: "Yes."

The court heard the woman gave a statement to police about being in the area with the man she identified as Mr Packer, although she had known him as "Peter" at the time.

'Spoilt child'

She said he had "usually treated her like a lady", but had got angry when she refused to take all her clothes off outside.

The woman said she was "really frightened" and feared her would beat her up and then leave her there.

The man later dropped her back in Glasgow having repeatedly apologised enroute for her being "scared".

She told officers: "I would describe him as Jekyll and Hyde … like a spoilt child who would get upset if he did not get his own way."

Mr Packer, 51, faces a total of 46 charge against multiple women, three men and a teenage boy, between 1990 and 2016.

He denies strangling Ms Caldwell in Limefield Woods near Biggar in 2005 and concealing her body.

The murder charge alleges he assaulted Ms Caldwell by restraining her, grabbing her wrists and strangling her with his hands and a cable.

He is then said to have dumped her naked body in the woods as well as disposing of her clothes, phone and other personal belongings.

He is also alleged to have cleaned a car to "avoid detection, arrest and prosecution".

The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.