The mum of Emma Caldwell has slammed her daughter's killer Iain Packer after he was jailed for life.

Margaret, 76, fought for justice for 19 years while Packer, who was interviewed several times by cops, remained a free man.

Recently, the 51-year-old serial rapist was caged for a minimum of 36 years last month after being found guilty of murdering the 27-year-old in 2005 and rapes and multiple sexual assaults against a total of 22 women.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the Daily Record reported Margaret said: "My family and I have been in so many dark places while this man walked the streets. It took far too long for justice to be served.

"The day after the trial I woke up and felt strange. I can't explain it and I thought throughout the day that maybe it was a relief but it wasn't. It was more that I felt at peace that this man has been put behind bars.

"Now he is absolutely irrelevant to any of us. He matters nothing to us anymore. He got his justice and he is where he is."

Margaret was joined on the show by her lawyer, Aamer Anwar.

Emma, who was a former stable worker turned to drugs and sex work after her older sister, Karen, died of cancer.

She continued to say: "Emma was lucky, she had a voice.

"She had her family and we kept in contact with Emma throughout this whole time.

"We knew that heroin was a killer and we knew that Emma was a heroin addict but we didn't have any knowledge that Emma worked on the streets, we were completely naive, we had no idea how she got her money.

"We rang each other every day and had a very close relationship. I saw her twice a week and she was near to going into rehabilitation."

Yesterday the Scottish Government confirmed an independent public inquiry into the police handling of the case would take place.

Margaret added: "There were many good police officers. David McLaren and Graham Mackie were excellent and they came forward for the second investigation when others thought the case was left in a dusty corner and they brought it back into the light of day.

"They were fighting on our side."

Speaking on the show, Mr Anwar said: "I think there are a whole series of allegations and reasons for a public enquiry but I think it is also important that the Lord Advocate has to order a criminal investigation finally after 19 years.

"Some of the most senior police officers in this country have fingerprints in this case and they have never answered questions.

"Police officers betrayed justice, they betrayed 22 women and many others who didn't come forward, and there has to be a criminal investigation into their conduct.

"They knew [Iain Packer] was a killer and a serial rapist and we were told by Scotland's most senior prosecutor that, as a senior law officer in 2008, she said that this is the man to go after and she told the police to do it and then the case just disappeared.

"Those officers brought shame on their uniform. They should be held to account, there should be change and if those officers are found to have engaged in criminality then they should face prison."

He added: "It has been described as probably the worst scandal in Scottish legal history. He has been described as one of the worst sex offenders in the UK.

"No women should ever feel because of her status, her vulnerability, her actions, her job - that they need to accept sexual violence."