In April 2005, 27-year-old Emma Caldwell vanished from Glasgow, days after telling her mother she wanted to go to rehab and come home. Five weeks later her body was found in remote woodland forty miles away. Within weeks, police interviewed the man who would eventually be convicted of her murder — and then let him walk free for nineteen years.

In this fully updated episode, Tay takes you through the whole case, conversationally and unflinchingly: Emma's life and the grief that shaped it; the deposition site that should have solved the case; the multi-million-pound investigation that chased the wrong men; the six interviews with Iain Packer; the journalists at the Sunday Mail and BBC Scotland who dragged the truth into the light; Packer's astonishing decision to go on camera to "clear his name"; the six-week trial that convicted him of 33 charges against 22 women; Police Scotland's apology — and the judge-led public inquiry, chaired by Lord Scott KC, that formally got underway in December 2025 and is examining the failures right now.

This is a story about institutional failure and misogyny — but more than that, it's about the people who refused to give up: the women who kept speaking, the detectives who broke ranks, the journalists who wouldn't drop it, and above all Emma's mother, Margaret.

Content warnings: murder, sexual violence, drug addiction, sex work, police failings. No graphic detail.

Support resources:

• Rape Crisis Scotland helpline: 08088 01 03 02 (daily, 5pm–midnight)

• Victim Support Scotland: 0800 160 1985

• Scottish Drugs Forum: sdf.org.uk

• Samaritans: 116 123 (free, 24/7)

Key sources for this episode: Police Scotland official statement following conviction (Feb 2024); BBC Scotland News reporting and the Sam Poling documentaries; The Emma Caldwell Inquiry official website (emmacaldwellinquiry.scot); Scottish Government announcements (gov.scot); contemporaneous court reporting of the 2024 trial; The Guardian and Sunday Mail reporting.

A note on the public inquiry: evidential hearings are still to come at time of recording. Some accounts of decision-making inside the 2005 investigation remain allegation and testimony rather than findings of fact; we've flagged these in the episode and will cover the inquiry's hearings and final report in future episodes.

*music by leberch from pixabay