Margaret Caldwell has spent more than two decades demanding the truth about the murder of her daughter Emma, and Mail Opinion argues the public inquiry she fought to secure now risks failing to answer the most important questions.
Emma was just 27 when she was murdered by Iain Packer in 2005. Despite overwhelming evidence that he was the killer, the sexual predator was overlooked for almost 20 years, continuing to rape and abuse women before finally being convicted in 2024.
The Scottish Government ordered a public inquiry after Packer was jailed. But if it examines only the failures of the original Strathclyde Police investigation, as its terms of reference suggest, it will ignore the years from 2013 when Police Scotland also failed to bring Packer to justice, despite the fact he had literally led detectives to the murder scene.
When the Sunday Mail identified Packer as the "Forgotten Suspect" in 2015, police focused on hunting the newspaper's sources rather than the killer. Even after the probe was reopened, progress remained painfully slow.
Senior officers and prosecutors must give evidence
That is why senior police officers and prosecutors must now give evidence. They are among those best placed to explain why Packer remained free, why crucial evidence was not acted upon, and why Emma's family waited 19 years for justice.
Margaret has fought not only for Emma but for every woman harmed while Packer remained at liberty. She deserves answers, and so does the public.
Packer is serving a 36-year sentence, but securing his conviction was only part of the battle. Unless the inquiry examines the full 19-year scandal, it risks becoming an exercise in looking everywhere except where the hardest questions remain.
Show boss the red card
Scotland may have invented football, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino wanted to sell it back with a dodgy World Cup cash grab plan. He is now facing pressure to resign after Uefa and other governing bodies finally lost patience with his greed.
Let's hope the beautiful game can finally get a boss who puts people and players before profit.
Glory Games
A barnstorming Commonwealth Games draws to a close in Glasgow today. The festival of sport had a slimmed down programme and budget compared to its last visit to the city in 2014.
But people make Glasgow, and they made sure the competition had more heart and soul than ever.
