The man on trial for murdering sex worker Emma Caldwell has insisted he “didn’t do anything” to the 27-year-old.

Iain Packer, 51, is accused of murdering Miss Caldwell, who went missing in Glasgow on 4 April 2005. Her body was found in Limefield Woods, South Lanarkshire a month later.

Packer is facing – and denies – a total of 36 charges involving offences against multiple women.

Giving evidence on the third day of his trial at Glasgow’s High Court, Packer said: “It wasn’t me who killed her. It wasn’t me. I didn’t do anything to her.”

He insisted that he had never seen the specific area of woods where Miss Caldwell’s body was found, until he was taken there with the jury during his trial.

Packer did say he had taken sex workers to Limefield Woods for “general chit-chat”.

He was then asked by prosecutor Richard Goddard: “Can you remember the number of women who say you were violent in this particular area?”

Packer replied that he had “no idea” and Mr Goddard informed him that five women had given statements against him.

No alibi

When asked where he was on the day Miss Caldwell went missing, Packer said: “I couldn’t tell you, I was either at home or I was working. I could have been walking the dogs, quite possibly. My job wasn’t 9-5, I had to do after hours as the shops were closed.

“I could have been in Aberdeen or Inverness. I was never told to provide details of where I was working, unfortunately for me.”

Mr Goddard replied: “More bad luck on top of all these people saying you did these things to them.”

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Packer did not offer an explanation when the court heard soil samples from the site were a “97% match” with ones from his van.

When shown a picture of the cable used to strangle Miss Caldwell, he said he had “never seen that before in my life”.

The trial continues.

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