Police Scotland speak to media in wake of Emma Caldwell case

The Scotsman

Police Scotland speak to media in wake of Emma Caldwell case  Yousaf: Public inquiry into police handling of Emma Caldwell killer is possible  Apublic inquiry into the investigation of Emma Caldwell murderer Iain Packer is “not off the table”, First Minister Humza Yousaf has said.  Concerns have been raised over the conduct of the former Strathclyde Police in the investigation of Packer, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years on Wednesday after being found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering the 27-year-old in 2005.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:07 [Music]

00:17 [Music]

00:18 Of course. I'm Assistant Chief Constable Bec Smith. I'm the Assistant Chief Constable for

00:23 Major Crime, Public Protection and Local Crime in Police Scotland. Emma Cordwell, her family

00:29 and many other victims were let down by policing in 2005. For that, we are sorry. A significant

00:37 number of women and girls who showed remarkable courage to speak up at that time also did

00:43 not get the justice and support they needed and deserved from Strathclyde Police.

00:49 Is it embarrassing that it's taken 19 years to get to this?

00:55 For Emma and her family and many other victims, we let them down and for that we're really

01:00 sorry. We know that a significant number of women and girls showed remarkable courage

01:04 and came forward and they didn't get the justice and support they needed from Strathclyde Police.

01:08 Is it embarrassing that it took 19 years?

01:11 It took time because it was a really complex investigation but we absolutely should have

01:15 done more in 2005 and that's why the reinvestigation was launched in 2015.

01:20 How sorry are you? You say in the statement that the police are sorry about what's happened

01:25 here but just how sorry are you bearing in mind the passage of time that's taken for

01:30 Emma's family to get the justice they've got today?

01:33 We are exceptionally sorry. They were let down, as were many victims in 2005. We've

01:39 completely changed our practices and processes and we've learnt from this and we will continue

01:43 to learn moving forward.

01:44 I think what people don't really understand though, looking at this case, is why when

01:51 the first trial collapsed, Packer wasn't looked at at that stage. There was plenty

01:57 witness statements at that point that pointed the finger towards him. Can you shed any light

02:02 at all on why that wasn't done at that point?

02:07 As I've said, we let people down in 2005, Emma, her family and many other victims.

02:13 I think though that what I'd like to try and hear a little bit more about, if I may,

02:20 is what you have learned though because in the statement you say that you have learned

02:24 from past mistakes. So what have you learned? What is it that you would do differently now

02:30 that was certainly not done then?

02:33 I think one of the most important things is that we absolutely listen to people when they

02:38 come forward. Time is no barrier to justice and I know that's something that's changed

02:42 massively. We have invested a lot of time understanding how violence against women and

02:47 girls affects communities and it's our responsibility to make sure that people feel confident to

02:52 come forward and report to us and that's a huge change in the way that we operate now

02:57 to 2005.

02:58 And what also about the way you talk to your investigation teams about this trial collapsed,

03:07 why was it not that at that point there was not a further look at the evidence, there

03:13 was something that had been missed, why was that just allowed to roll on for so many years?

03:20 I think what I would like to say around that is again, the investigation in 2005 wasn't

03:26 right, we let people down and the reinvestigation in 2015 was exceptionally thorough and took

03:31 an awful lot of time to get to where we've got to today.

03:35 Are there any processes though to do that review a bit sooner, so that it's not just

03:41 the thoughts of one investigation team on what the narrative is in that case? Have you

03:48 learned from that to have that review a lot quicker?

03:53 We would absolutely review cases and we do, exceptionally thoroughly, it's something that

03:58 we do frequently and as I say there is no barrier to justice in terms of time and it's

04:03 something that we will continue to do as an organisation moving forward.

04:07 Do you feel that there were other women who may have been attacked but haven't come forward

04:13 in the time that Packer was at large?

04:16 What I would say in relation to that is if anybody watching this feels that they have

04:22 been a victim, I absolutely encourage them to come forward and talk to us, we will listen

04:27 and they will be believed. As I've said, time is absolutely not a barrier, no matter when

04:32 any sexual offending happened, we will listen and we will investigate.

04:36 Emma Caldwell's family have called for a public inquiry into the original investigation and

04:41 for the officers that were involved in making decisions at the time to be prosecuted. What's

04:46 your reaction to that?

04:48 We would support any judicial proceedings that may come as a result of this, absolutely

04:52 and just in relation to the officer's side, we submitted a report as a result of the Strathclyde

04:57 investigation in 2005 to COPFS.

05:01 Any other questions?

05:04 Thanks very much everyone.

05:07 [Music]

05:12 [MUSIC]

Category

Transcript

Recommended