Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Man jailed for trying to throttle ex-partner
COURT REPORTER
A man quizzed in relation to the Emma Caldwell murder investigation has been jailed.
Airdrie Sheriff Court heard last month that Iain Packer has a string of convictions for attacking women.
His record of violence was exposed when he was convicted of throttling his former partner at an address in Airdrie.
He was sent to prison for two years and banned from approaching the woman for five years, with Sheriff Morag Shankland telling him: “This was a very serious assault against a lady who was your partner.
“It was completely disgraceful conduct.”
The sheriff told Packer that the sentence was discounted from two years to 18 months, but added a six- month consecutive sentence after he pleaded guilty to “stalking” the woman over a period of time and “sexting” her with a barrage of messages and indecent photographs.
In an interview with BBC1’s Disclosure programme last year, Packer, 47, denied being responsible for 27- year- old sex worker Emma Caldwell’s murder and said that he had never hurt a woman in his life.
He was never charged, but in 2015, the then Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland ordered police to reopen the case and it remains ongoing.
The court heard that Packer had been involved in three domestic assaults in the past 12 years. and of beating up a third woman in 2011.
He has now been convicted of a fourth attack on a woman he was in a relationship with.
Prosecutor Brent Bissop told the court: “It was a Saturday night in November 2018. She went to bed. There had been arguments for most of the night.
“He entered the bedroom, approached her and put both of his hands around her throat and applied pressure for about 10 seconds or so, causing her to have breathing difficulties.
“He left and she remained in the bedroom. He slept on the couch.
“She suffered pain and redness to her neck.
“On February 7, 2019, they ended the relationship.
“In March, police became aware of this offence during their inquiries into another matter.”
Defence counsel Bill Adam told the court: “There was no substantial injury to her.
“He accepts the gripping of that part of her body was a danger. He is extremely sorry for the distress he caused.
“He has a limited record and given his mental health and physical issues, custody would be difficult.”
The sheriff turned down a Crown motion to put Packer on the sex offenders’ register.
This was a very serious assault ... disgraceful conduct