Woman took 'panic attack' on returning to Emma Caldwell death site
The sex worker went with detectives in a bid to show them the spot where a man she identified as murder suspect Iain Packer had previously drove her to.
A woman took a panic attack on directing police back to the same remote woods where Emma Caldwell was allegedly killed.
The sex worker went with detectives in a bid to show them the spot where a man she identified as murder suspect Iain Packer had previously drove her to.
One of the officers recalled her becoming "hysterical" and "hyperventilating" during the 41-mile journey from Glasgow as they got closer to the area.
Jurors also heard how the woman described the man as ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ who got angry after she refused to take all her clothes off.
Packer, 51, denies a total of 46 charges involving multiple women and includes the murder of 27 year-old Miss Caldwell - also a sec worker - at Limefield Woods in Biggar, South Lanarkshire on April 5 2005.
Now retired detective constable Stuart Hall today/yesterday told the High a court in Glasgow how he and a colleague met with the woman on February 10 2006.
Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC asked: “Did you travel with her in a bid for her to show you where she had been taken by the male she identified as Iain Packer?”
He replied: “Yes.”
Mr Hall said they collected the woman and her partner in the city’s Govan, headed onto the M8 then the M74 where they stayed on for 45 minutes to an hour.
They ended up at the junction for Happenson Services in South Lanarkshire.
Mr Goddard asked Mr Hall what her reaction was at that point.
He stated: “She took what she described as a panic attack.
“She was crying and became hysterical, hyperventilating.
“We could see she was visibly distressed.”
They recommenced the journey, the woman continuing to direct and pointing out “landmarks” along the way.
They travelled a total of 41 miles from Glasgow ending up “down quite remote countryside”.
The woman was said to have got “more hysterical” and seemed “terrified” when they got there.
Mr Goddard: “This was where the woman took you in the exercise as to where Iain Packer had taken her?”
Mr Hall agreed.
The advocate depute: “This was the same place the body of Emma Caldwell - also from Glasgow - had been found?”
The ex detective: “Yes.”
Mr Goddard also asked Mr Hall about the specific route the woman said she had been taken from Glasgow.
He stated: “Between leaving the city and ending up in forest in South Lanarkshire, there are innumerable, if not infinite routes that could have been taken to the spot in Limefield Woods?”
The witness once more agreed.
The court heard the woman gave a statement to police about being in the area with the man she identified as Packer, but had known as “Peter” at the time.
She said he had “usually treated her like a lady”, but had got angry when she refused to strip naked outside.
The woman stated: “I was really frightened. I thought he was going to batter f**k out of me and leave me.”
He later dropped her back in Glasgow having repeatedly apologised en-route 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.”
The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.
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