A victim of killer and serial rapist Iain Packer will today give evidence to MSPs examining plans to overhaul the current system of police complaints.

Packer was jailed for at least 36 years in February this year for the murder of Emma Caldwell, 27, in April 2005 as well as multiple other cases of sexual violence against 22 other women.

Magdalene Robertson, who has waived her anonymity, will this morning tell Holyrood's justice committee of the process she went through in making complaints to the police about how her case was originally mishandled by officers. 

She told the police in 2006 that she was sexually assaulted and raped by Packer, and reported the attacks again in 2015.

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But she was forced to wait until February 28 this year before Packer was found guilty of three charges against her at the same trial where he was convicted of murdering Ms Caldwell.

Ms Robertson is giving evidence to MSPs on Holyrood's justice committee which is examining The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill.

The Bill seeks to create a statutory obligation for Police Scotland to have a code of ethics, place a statutory duty of candour on individual police officers and Police Scotland as an organisation.

It also proposes changes to cover aspects of police conduct including clarifying that the Scottish Police Authority is liable for the unlawful conduct of the Chief Constable, and provide a power to allow misconduct procedures to be applied to former police officers as is the case in England.

The bill further seeks to introduce an advisory list for police officers under investigation for alleged gross misconduct, and a barred list for officers dismissed, or who would have been dismissed, due to gross misconduct.

Last week, The Herald revealed that Holyrood's finance committee had instructed civil servants to come back with new costs for the reforms after a senior official admitted the initial costs were out of date and didn't take account of various factors including py rises, inflation and police training.

The Scottish Government had estimated the annual cost of overhauling the police complaints system at between £520,474 and £1.41million, while Police Scotland suggested the reforms would cost the force a minimum of £5 million.

As well as hearing from Ms Robertson, MSPs on the criminal justice committee will also hear from two other people with experience of the police complaints system, Stephanie Bonner and Bill Johnstone.

Ms Bonner, whose son Rhys died in 2019, had previously raised a petition on the issue of ‘unexplained deaths’ and Police Scotland’s treatment of families. 

Mr Johnstone’s car repair and classic car sales garage was destroyed by a fire in 2009. He found out later that no crime report was filed for this incident. He feels that officers failed to properly investigate this incident.

The Committee will also consider in private the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act.

Last month the Scottish Government announced that an independent judge-led public inquiry will be held into how police handled the investigation into Ms Caldwell’s murder.

The announcement came as Scotland’s most senior law officer said she believed there was sufficient evidence in 2008 to prosecute Ms Caldwell’s killer.

Ms Caldwell’s mother, Margaret Caldwell, has campaigned tirelessly for nearly two decades to bring her daughter’s murderer to justice.

She listened from the public gallery as Scotland’s justice secretary, Angela Constance, told MSPs: “There can be no doubt of the serious failings that brought a grieving family to fight for justice.”
The inquiry is expected to examine the sustained police failings that emerged during the trial of Packer.

Ms Caldwell was living in a hostel in Glasgow when she disappeared in April 2005. Her mother told the trial that her daughter had started taking heroin to numb her grief after the death of her sister and was funding her drug habit through sex work. Ms Caldwell’s naked body was found five weeks after she went missing, in Limefield Woods near Biggar, South Lanarkshire.

Police Scotland apologised for how the original inquiry was handled and for letting down Ms Caldwell and other women.

Ms Caldwell's family said she had been failed by police due to a "toxic culture of misogyny and corruption" which left Packer free to rape other women.

The 27-year-old's death had been one of Scotland's most high-profile unsolved murders.