IAIN PACKER'S BID TO REDUCE LIFE SENTENCE FOR EMMA CALDWELL MURDER REJECTED
The serial rapist who murdered Emma Caldwell has failed in an attempt to have his sentence reduced.Iain Packer was found guilty earlier this year of killing the 27-year-old in remote woods near Glasgow in April 2005.
Packer, 51, was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 36 years in jail before he can apply for parole.
His lawyers argued that the punishment part of the sentence was too long, but the appeal was dismissed by judges the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
The sentence was the second longest ever handed down by a Scottish court, behind the 37-year minimum jail term given to Angus Sinclair in 2014.
Emma Caldwell's body was found in a wood in South Lanarkshire five weeks after she was last seen in Glasgow city centre.
Packer was found guilty of Emma's murder and 32 other charges, including rapes and sexual assaults.
The case was high-profile, and an investigation helped lead to Packer’s arrest.
Police apologized for mishandling the original inquiry, and an independent public inquiry has been ordered by the Scottish government.