Jurors in Emma Caldwell murder trial consider verdicts
- Published
Emma Caldwell's body was found in a remote part of South Lanarkshire five weeks after she went missing
The jury in the Emma Caldwell murder trial has begun considering its verdicts.
Iain Packer denies strangling the 27-year-old in April 2005 and concealing her body in remote woodland in South Lanarkshire.
The 51-year-old also denies more than 30 other charges, mostly sexual in nature, involving 25 women.
The jurors have now been sent home for the weekend and will resume deliberations on Monday.
The judge has directed them to find Iain Packer guilty on one indecent assault charge involving Ms Caldwell.
That charge relates to an incident in Glasgow in August 2004, eight months before the death of Ms Caldwell who was a sex worker in the city.
In a police statement Mr Packer said he went with her behind billboards having agreed payment for a sex act but continued after she became upset and tried to break away from him.
During cross examination at the trial at the High Court in Glasgow, he said he was ashamed of his actions and agreed that they were "criminal".
Iain Packer denies a total of 36 charges against 25 women
In his directions to the jury, the judge Lord Beckett said evidence from several witnesses, including Iain Packer himself, meant he should be convicted on that charge.
Emma Caldwell's naked body was found by a dog walker in Limefield woods near Biggar in South Lanarkshire five weeks after she was last seen on 5 April 2005.