Iain Packer victim blasts Police Scotland and accuses cops of 'cover up' over delay in bringing brute to justice

The first known victim of murderer and serial rapist Iain Packer has blasted Police Scotland and blamed a "cover-up" for the delay in bringing the brute to justice.

Magdalene Robertson was raped by the monster aged just 15 in 1990 but had to wait almost a quarter of a century to see justice.

The now 48-year-old, who has chosen to waive her right to anonymity, was giving evidence at the Scottish Parliament today over her experience of making a formal complaint against police.

Robertson was scathing of the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) - which handles complaints made against the force - and suggested it should be scrapped.

She is now considering launching a civil action against the national constabulary.

Robertson was assaulted by Packer over a two-year spell in the early 1990s. She told family members at the time but was ignored.

Packer, 51, went on to murder Emma Caldwell in 2005 after raping a series of other women - but the sign fitter from Glasgow would only be brought to justice this year after Strathclyde Police botched the original investigation.

Robertson first gave a statement to officers in 2006 – 16 months after Caldwell's body was found in remote woodland in South Lanarkshire - which detailed Packer's violent sexual nature.

He was finally arrested in 2022 for Caldwell's murder and a string of other attacks, including the 1990 rape of Robertson.

Police had originally blamed the killing on four Turkish men living in Glasgow, only for the case against them to collapse in 2008.

The Sunday Mail - the Record's sister title - reenergised the case in 2015 when it named Packer as a forgotten suspect in Caldwell's murder.

Appearing before Holyrood's Justice Committee, Robertson spoke candidly about her own experiences of dealing with the police.

She told MSPs: "When you have an organisation such as the police that's been going on for hundreds of years, that has a culture built up, people want to protect it. It's natural."

Asked if complaints to police should in future go through an independent body before being passed to the PIRC, she added: "That says you should eliminate PIRC.

"Because if you need to have someone man-marking each step, why don't they just do it? Why do we need a separate entity?

"Maybe it should have people who have not come from the police. We need to look at these networks the police are involved in. These are old boys' networks.

"These are people who have worked with each other, their families have worked with each other, they're in the same golf club."

She continued: "If they've done something wrong, and covered something up once, right at the start of their careers, then people know about it, then they cover up something else, then something gets hidden, something's not reported.

"There's a pandora's box to be opened, and none of them want that opened."

"They don't want blame. That's why they will cover up. That's what I believe."

Robertson claimed her request to the PIRC for her complaint to be reviewed following Packer's conviction was ignored.

She added: "I still have no where to go with this complaint. What I have to do is seek civil action against these police and fund it myself if I want justice."

Packer was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years in prison.

He was found guilty last in March of 33 charges against a total of 22 women, including Caldwell's murder and 11 rapes.

The death of Caldwell in April 2005 became one of Scotland's longest running unsolved murders.

An independent public inquiry into the police handling of the original murder investigation was confirmed by the Scottish Government days after Packer was sentenced.

It comes after former detectives revealed they were prevented from detaining the monster by senior officers who refused to treat him as a suspect - focusing instead on a group of four other men who were later cleared.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar, who represents Caldwell's mother Margaret, previously described the handling of the murder investigation as "the worst scandal to ever hit the Scottish legal system".

Police Scotland previously said it would fully support the public inquiry and any further police investigation

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