Scrap ‘corrupt’ police complaints system, rape victim demands
POLICE Scotland’s complaints system is ‘corrupt’ and needs to be scrapped, a victim of rapist Iain Packer has told MSPs.
Magdalene Robertson, understood to be the first known victim of Packer, said her dealings with police had left her feeling like she was on a ‘hamster wheel’.
Ms Robertson, 48, told police investigating the 2005 murder of Emma Caldwell that Packer was violent, obsessive and had raped her in the early 1990s.
But it took 18 years before Packer was finally convicted of murdering Ms Caldwell along with 32 other counts of abuse against 22 women — including raping Ms Robertson.
At Holyrood’s criminal justice committee yesterday, MSPs heard from Ms Robertson and others about Police Scotland’s handling of serious complaints reported by victims of crime.
She said the process was designed to ‘deplete me of energy so I had nowhere else to go’.
The committee is gathering evidence for the Scottish Government’s Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill that would require the police to have a code of ethics.
It would also make changes to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) in a bid to be more transparent and improve accountability. PIRC is responsible for investigating allegations of criminality by on-duty officers and misconduct allegations against senior officers.
Asked if complaints to police should go through an independent body before being passed to PIRC, she said: ‘Maybe it should have people who have not come from the police.
‘We need to look at these networks the police are in. These are old boys’ networks.
‘There’s a Pandora’s box to be opened, and none of them want that. That’s why they cover up.’ She said that, as PIRC was staffed by former police, it had the ‘same culture and mindset’.
Ms Robertson said: ‘To scrap and reset and have something new would be the way forward.’
She said when she was approached in 2006 in relation to Ms Caldwell’s murder, she warned police Packer should be a prime suspect and that he had raped her. She said police never came back to her and that her complaint about how the investigation was handled is still being ignored. She plans legal action against PIRC.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Bonner told MSPs she had been on a ‘hellish merry-go-round of distractions, deceit, deceptions and manipulation’ as she complained about the way police dealt with the death of her son Rhys, 19.
He went missing in July, 2019, and his body was found near Glasgow in August that year. Ms Bonner made a formal complaint in 2020.
She said: ‘It has taken four long and painful years just to prove my son’s death was not properly investigated by Police Scotland.’
PIRC found Police Scotland failed to fully investigate Ms Bonner’s complaints.
Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff said: ‘An offer was made to meet Stephanie Bonner by our Professional Standards Department and that remains open.’
‘Pandora’s box to be opened’