Soil in murder accused’s van ‘corresponded’ with body location, trial is told

Soil samples taken from the forest where Emma Caldwell’s body was found “corresponded” with those discovered in the van of the man accused of murdering her, a court has heard.

Iain Packer, 50, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering the sex worker, 27, in 2005, and faces 46 charges involving a number of women including rape as well as abduction and assault.

He denies all the charges against him, and has lodged special defences of incrimination, consent, defence of another and self-defence.

Giving evidence yesterday, Dr Stefan Uitdehaag, from the Netherlands Forensic Institute in the Hague, said he wrote a report on palynology – the study of soil – after being commissioned by Police Scotland.

He calculated “ecological distances” between six samples from around Limefield Woods in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, where Miss Caldwell’s body was found on May 8 2005, and in a sample found in the footwell of Packer’s van, examining pollen composition.

The forensic scientist said the results showed a “99.99 per cent” chance that they came from the same spot rather than another random site.

Dr Uitdehaag’s report examined “proposition one” (P1) – that the sample from the van came from the same location as other samples, and “proposition two” (P2) that it came from a random other location,. Advocate depute Richard Goddard KC said: “Highest similarity between the samples from the van and the scene – from soil under the moss, from soil under the needles on the approach path, and from soil from a molehill on the approach to where the body was. These samples gave the highest reading of material taken from the van.”

Dr Uitdehaag said: “The results were more likely to have come from the same location than from a different location, yes.”

Mr Goddard said: “The chances of getting these results are 100 to 10,000 times more likely that P1 applies than P2.”

Dr Uitdehaag said: “The proposition of P1 is 99 per cent to 99.99 per cent more likely than P2, based on my knowledge and expertise.”

The trial continues.