Unknown dangers facing vice girls

Detectives are still investigating Emma Caldwell's murder

An attack on a woman which caused her to lose part of an arm has highlighted the dangers faced by working girls.

Gillian Gilchrist, 29, from Ibrox, Glasgow, was thrown from a car by a man who picked her up in the red light district at about midnight on Sunday.

Her family told the Scottish Sun she is lucky was "she could well be dead".

Eight prostitutes have been murdered in the west of Scotland in the past 15 years. Police have made arrests but secured only one conviction.

Police are still investigating the murder of Emma Caldwell, 27, whose body was found in woods near Biggar, South Lanarkshire.

A dog walker made the find on 8 May last year.

Ms Caldwell was last seen leaving a hostel in Inglefield Street in Glasgow's Govanhill on Monday 4 April.

Lack of evidence

The killings began in 1991 when Diane McInally, 23, was found dead in Pollok Park.

Two men were charged with her murder but later released because of a lack of evidence.

In 1993, Karen McGregor, a 26-year-old mother-of-two, was strangled and her body was found in bushes near the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Jacqueline Gallagher was found dead in a lay-by

Her husband Charlie was tried for the killing but the jury returned a not proven verdict.

In 1995, Leona McGovern was found dead in a city car park after she had been stabbed repeatedly and strangled.

A man was charged with killing the 22-year-old but a jury later found him not guilty of the charge.

The same year, the body of Marjorie Roberts, 34, was found floating in the River Clyde.

But police could not prove if she had fallen or been pushed into the river.

Jacqueline Gallagher's body was found in 1997, on a grass verge near a bus stop in Bowling.

One of her client's, George Johnstone, 43, of Erskine, was cleared of the murder.

Also in 1997, Tracy Wylde, 21, was found beaten to death in her Glasgow flat.

No-one has been convicted for her killing.

In 1998, Margo Lafferty, 27, was murdered after picking up a client in the city centre.

Brian Donnelly was jailed for life for her killing in 2001.