Top lawyer slams 'further betrayal' of murdered Emma

Fears police officers will escape inquiry scrutiny

- BY CRAIG MEIGHAN

Fight for justice... Margaret Caldwell, mother of Emma, left, and lawyer Aamer Anwar want Police Scotland to be part of inquiry

THE family of Emma Caldwell has warned of "betrayal" and a "travesty of justice" after Police Scotland was left out of the inquiry's remit.

The public inquiry into her murder officially began yesterday by publishing what it would investigate.

Ms Caldwell was murdered in 2005 but it was not until last year that Iain Packer was convicted of her killing along with a number of sexual offences against other women.

The initial police investigation has drawn criticism for failing to catch Packer, who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years two decades after the murder of Emma, 27.

Chair Lord Scott, a high court judge, will examine which steps could reasonably have been taken that could have resulted in Emma's killer being apprehended and prosecuted at an earlier stage, “and any other factors relevant to the circumstances of the investigation and related prosecution”.

He will also examine whether “any failures in training, procedures, operating models or systems of working contributed to any failures by Strathclyde Police or Crown Office during the investigation”, the Government announced.

There was no reference to its successor, Police Scotland.