Brit mum, 21, strangled to death as sister makes urgent demand

Sex workers in Glasgow were so terrified of the killer stalking their streets that they created a ‘Beware Book’ containing details of dangerous clients. Between 1991 and 2005, eight women were brutally murdered, with half their cases remaining unsolved. Finally, in 2024 Iain Packer, described as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character and regular user of prostitutes, was jailed for at least 36 years for the 2005 Glasgow murder of 27-year-old prostitute Emma Caldwell, whose body was found in remote woods. Police apologised to Emma’s family - who said she’d been failed by a "toxic culture of misogyny and corruption" - for how the original inquiry was handled, accepting responsibility for letting her and other victims down.

The Scottish government said it would consider holding a public inquiry into problems with the original investigation, which meant that by the time Packer, 51, was convicted, he was guilty of 32 other charges - including 11 rapes and multiple sexual assaults against 22 women.

This week, Clyde One radio journalists Collette McGonigle and Callum McQuade have launched a true crime podcast called Beware Book, examining the stories of the eight murdered women, featuring deeply personal interviews with their families. Here, Bernadette McCash, sister of murder victim Tracey Wylde, tells her moving story.

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Mum-of-one Tracey Wylde was 21 when she was choked to death at her flat in Barmulloch in November 1997. Her case was finally solved in 2016, when Chinese-born Zhi Min Chen was arrested after his DNA was taken, following an alleged assault. In 2017 he was jailed for a minimum of 18 years, which was later reduced to 16.

Tracey’s sister, Bernadette, McCash, 40, of Glasgow, says: "I was only 12 when she was murdered. I’m so sad I never got to do more sister stuff with her. That was ripped away from both of us. I knew she was on drugs, but I didn’t know she was a sex worker. My nana Margaret and papa Thomas adopted Tracey. He told us that she’d been murdered.

"It was a real shock. It took a while to process, especially as I was only a child myself. The police, papa, and my mum went to the police station. The police then came every day after that. I carried on going to school, but it was really hard to concentrate.

"Walking in the streets I felt very unsafe, in case I was being followed. I kept thinking that I, too, was going to be taken or killed at 12-years-old. Tracey was a sex worker. People thought my sister was scum. She took drugs, she sold her body. People didn’t see her as a real human - a sister, a daughter.

"There wasn’t much protection for sex workers back then - it was a dangerous profession. It was her choice to be a sex worker, but it wasn’t her choice to die. Tracey was a mother to a three year old girl named Megan at the time of her death. She was a fantastic mum. After her mummy was murdered, Megan went to her dad’s house.

"In the years that followed, the case remained unsolved, which was really hard for the whole family. There was no justice. Then, in 2016, a suspect was arrested - Zhi Min Chen - and charged with Tracey’s murder. Even though there was finally someone behind bars, I don’t believe that my sister ever really got justice.

"He’ll be getting out of prison in 2036. He’ll be able to live his life with his family. Tracey won’t. Her life was taken away. Her daughter had to grow up without her mum. My own mum had passed too, before they caught him. She never got any closure.

"I’m speaking out now for two reasons. Firstly, I want the police to do better for the ladies or men who do sex work. Sex work should be regulated. Women could clock in and clock out, so it’s known they are back safe from a job. Secondly, I’m speaking out now, to keep Tracey’s memory alive. She’s important and was and is very loved. If speaking out about her death ends up saving a life, it’ll go some way to healing the hurt."

*You can listen to Rayo Original podcast Beware Book now, available on the Rayo app, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify... or wherever you get your podcasts.

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