Jurors in Emma Caldwell murder trial visit woods where her body was discovered
They were taken by police escort to Limefield Woods in South Lanarkshire
Jurors in the Emma Caldwell murder trial were today taken to visit the remote area in South Lanarkshire where was allegedly murdered.
They were ferried by mini-bus on the 41-mile journey from the High Court in Glasgow to Limefield Woods in Biggar.
A convoy of 10 police motorcycles escorted the jury to the site as they left around 10.30am.
Murder suspect Iain Packer along with judge Lord Beckett, lawyers in the case and other court and security staff also joined the visit.
Packer, 51, denies a total of 46 charges involving multiple women and includes the murder of 27-year-old Miss Caldwell - a sex worker - on April 5, 2005.
Before leaving, Lord Beckett told jurors they were not to take "the role of detectives or investigators" while at Limefield.
He laid out what he described as "ground rules" for the trip.
The judge: "You will visit the area of Limefield Woods where the body of Miss Caldwell was found.
"The purpose of it is to allow you to see the location and see features along the roads that you have heard about.
"You may find, that having been to the woods, it will aid your understanding for some of the evidence and what can be inferred from what you have heard."
They were also handed an A4 map of the area before leaving.
But Lord Beckett urged that evidence in the case had not yet been completed and that they must not reach a "final judgement" at this time.
The trial this week heard from dog walker Neil Borland who had found the body of Miss Caldwell while out with his labrador Gigha on May 8, 2005.
The 54-year-old described her as lying "face down" between lines of trees and was "unclothed".
He said there was a "garrotte" around her neck.
Last week, jurors heard that one woman took a "panic attack" after directing police back to the woods where Miss Caldwell was allegedly killed.
The sex worker went with detectives in a bid to show them the spot where a man she identified as Packer had previously drove her to.
They went on the M8 motorway then the M74 where they stayed on for 45 minutes to an hour.
The woman and the officers eventually stopped "down quite remote countryside".
She was described by then as getting "more hysterical" and seemed "terrified" when they got there.
After returning from the site visit they heard from a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by Packer at an “adult party” at a farm in the north of Glasgow in 2013.
She was in a room with her husband when Packer and a woman came in.
They swapped partners and the witness initially engaged in consensual contact.
But the woman - now aged 46 - said it quickly became “hard” and “uncomfortable”.
This allegedly included him putting his hand over her mouth.
She recalled: “I was starting to say ‘no’. He just kept going.”
The witness said she protested “more than once”.
The woman added she tried to get her husband’s attention, but “could not move much”.
Prosecutor Richard Goddard KC asked her: “Was this what you went to this party for?”
She replied: “No.”
The woman added the “more uncomfortable” she got and “kept saying no” it was claimed “the more he liked it”.
Mr Goddard suggested it may be asked why she did not scream out to her husband.
The woman: “We were new…you did not know if that was normal.
“I just felt totally uncomfortable.
“I did not want to seem like I was being pathetic.”
The jury heard how she was messaged years later on social media by another woman about “a guy” from the party.
This female put her in contact with TV journalist Samantha Poling, who later carried out an interview with Packer for a documentary about Miss Caldwell’s death.
Police were eventually alerted about the allegations.
Packer’s KC Ronnie Renucci asked the witness why she had spoken to a journalist first before the police.
She replied: “I did not know if I would be wasting my time.”
The woman said she “regretted” not reporting it sooner.
The court heard how Packer was quizzed by police weeks after her body was found and claimed he had never picked her up in the past.
Packer - then aged 32 - gave statements to detectives in June and July 2005.
He admitted had used prostitutes for the previous 12 years in Glasgow.
The former sign fitter said he had "seen" Miss Caldwell three or four times in the red-light area of the city known as "the drag".
There had been an occasion he had gone to speak to her, but, by the time he did, she had gone.
He stated: "That was the only time I was going to pick her up."
Packer claimed not to have known her name at the time and had only learned it from police appeals.
He added the last time he had seen Emma was three or four months prior to giving the statements.
Packer stated: "I do not have further information that may help this inquiry."
Retired detective constable Stuart Hall was one of the officers involved in the interviews.
Prosecutor Mr Goddard asked him: "At the point the focus started on Emma Caldwell, can you describe his demeanour?"
Mr Hall: "I think Mr Packer had an uncomfortable demeanour throughout.
"He did try and avoid any discussion over Emma. He was looking and acting uncomfortable."
Mr Goddard later put to Mr Hall: "One part of the interview finishes by him saying that he had no further information to help the inquiry as to who murdered this young woman?"
The witness: "Yes."
The trial continues.