Judge tells Caldwell jury to focus on evidence
- Published
Emma Caldwell's body was found in woods five weeks after she was last seen
A judge has told the jury in the Emma Caldwell murder trial to base their verdicts only on the evidence.
Lord Beckett also said they must not be influenced by outside sources when they retire to begin their deliberations at the High Court in Glasgow.
Iain Packer has admitted he once indecently assaulted Ms Caldwell, 27, but said he did not murder the sex worker in 2005.
Mr Packer, 51, denies a total of 36 charges against 25 women.
Ms Caldwell's body was found in Limefield Woods, near Biggar, South Lanarkshire, on 8 May 2005 - five weeks after she was last seen alive in Glasgow city centre.
She died from compression of the neck and a pathologist previously told the trail that manual strangulation had been the most likely cause.
The judge started directing the jury by highlighting that victims of sexual offences react to their experiences in different ways.
He also told the eight men and seven women that they must consider whether the Crown had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Lord Beckett said: "Your verdicts should be based on all of the evidence and only on the evidence."
The judge also told them not to speculate in relation to evidence that was not led and witnesses that were not called.
And he urged jurors not to be swayed by media coverage.
Lord Beckett said: "You must not be influenced by any outside source about the case.
"You as a jury must focus only on the evidence led in the trial."
He said this included their own observations during the site visit to Limefield Woods.
Iain Packer denies a total of 36 charges against 25 women
Lord Beckett also stressed their decisions must not be based on moral judgements or sympathy for the alleged victims and their families.
Earlier, defence advocate Ronnie Renucci KC suggested that prosecution witnesses had been influenced by "the power, lure and influence of television."
Mr Renucci said some of the women who have accused Mr Packer of attacking them only did so after he appeared on a BBC documentary in 2019.
The lawyer told the jury there was no evidence of any contact between his client and Ms Caldwell on the night she disappeared.
And he said there was no blood, DNA, fibres, body fluids, fingerprints or CCTV linking him to her death.
Mr Renucci told the jury: "It is easy to make Iain Packer the bogeyman in this. He is an easy target."
Mr Packer has denied strangling Ms Caldwell with his hands and a cable, and disposing of her clothes and belongings to avoid arrest.
He has pled not guilty to a total of 36 charges of physical and sexual violence against multiple women.
Last week, under cross examination, he admitted that an incident in August 2004 involving Ms Caldwell was sexual assault.
He said he had gone with her behind billboards in the east end of Glasgow for sex but refused to stop when asked.