The lawyer defending a man accused of murdering a sex worker has told jurors there is not “one piece” of evidence linking the two on the night she went missing.

Iain Packer, 51, is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

He is accused of murdering Emma Caldwell, 27, who vanished in Glasgow in April 2005 and whose body was found in Limefield Woods in South Lanarkshire the following month.

He faces a total of 36 charges involving offences against 25 women, all of which he denies.

Defending, Ronnie Renucci KC told jurors on Wednesday that Packer is “prepared to accept responsibility for his actions” and is “not trying to hide the fact” he went to Limefield Woods with sex workers.

Mr Renucci asked jurors: “If Iain Packer was responsible for her death, was he really going to be so stupid as to dump her body there and leave it to be found?”

He said there was no phone communication between Packer and Ms Caldwell on the night she went missing on 4 April 2005.

He said there was “not one piece of evidence” showing Packer was in the area of Glasgow’s red light district on that night.

He added there was “no CCTV footage whatsoever” and no evidence of any sightings of Packer in his blue van.

Ms Caldwell’s body was found on 8 May 2005.

Mr Renucci said: “There was no DNA, no blood, no fibres, no fingerprints, no bodily fluids linking him to her death.”

He told jurors to disregard evidence that Packer had lied to police and to BBC journalist Samantha Polling.

He said: “Iain Packer lied to police and lied about knowing Emma Caldwell.

“So what? He accepts he lied about that. He didn’t want to be charged with something he didn’t do.

“Mr Packer lied to her [Ms Polling]. So what? He has not been the only person to tell lies in this case.”

Read more from the trial:
Packer took alleged victim ‘multiple times’ to area where body was found
Soil found in suspect’s van ‘corresponded’ with body location
Packer apologises for sexually assaulting Ms Caldwell year before her death
Packer insists ‘it wasn’t me who killed her’

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Mr Renucci claimed Packer lied as he was “trying to clear his name” after he had contacted Ms Polling following concerns about the way he was portrayed in the media.

Mr Renucci said: “It is easy to make Iain Packer the bogeyman in all of this. But you must step back and think objectively.

“If he is this person [who murdered Ms Caldwell], how on Earth did he get away with it for all these years right under the noses of the police?

“The truth is, I would suggest, it is not him.

“This is not television. You have got one chance to make the right decision. You cannot come back next week and have another go.”

The trial, before Lord Beckett, continues.

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