Let Justice be done and seen to be done, Woman H tells High Court in Edinburgh that she felt 'hunted' by former SNP First Minister Alex Salmond before alleged attempted rape, first day of Alex Salmond trial, the jury of nine women and six men face possibly the most high profile case they will ever have to judge

Dear All

We may be in the middle of a corona virus epidemic, we may be can’t get our hands on loo roll for panic buying, we may be seeing countless SNP MPs and MSPs play the mental health card but as the apocalypse and the end of the world beckons, the Alex Salmond trial is rolling on. Alex Salmond’s have lodged special defences of consent and alibi, Alex Salmond is denying all criminal charges.

Yesterday, the trial kicked with a former Scottish Government official telling the Edinburgh High Court her evidence of what allegedly happened to her Bute House after an allegedly drunken Alex Salmond tried to rape her.

The woman said she felt “chased” and “hunted”.

In her evidence she said the alleged assault in an upstairs bedroom in June 2014 happened when one of her arms was incapacitated by a recent fall. The woman listed on the trial simply as Woman H said:

“He full-on pounced”.

She added:

“I wish in hindsight I had just screamed or kicked him in the nuts, but I was so frozen I was panicking inside. He would not stop. He was not listening.”

After Salmond fell asleep she claims she went to another room and waited “till the coast was clear” before leaving by the back door. 

Her evidence said:

“I remember curling up on the floor in the foetal position thinking, ‘Just be quiet. Be really quiet. He will hear you. I was scared. I was in shock for a long time after this.”

She said she did not tell anyone about the attack because she did not want the “humiliation” of being thought of as one of Mr Salmond’s “other women”.

This bit above interests me, here is a former Scottish Government employee saying that she did not want the “humiliation” of being thought of as one of Mr Salmond’s “other women”. This tends to suggest that prior to Salmond’s admission of cheating on his wife repeatedly that it was common knowledge about Salmond among staff. If this was common knowledge among staff, how exactly did the entire SNP stasi including Nicola Sturgeon not know?

Woman H gave her evidence from behind a screen at the High Court in Edinburgh on the first day of Mr Salmond’s trial for a series of alleged sex crimes.

Alex Salmond has lodged a special defence of consent in relation to four charges involving three women and alleged incidents at Bute House between 2010 and 2013; in total he faces 14 charges from 10 women. The jury of nine women and six men heard his defence against one charge of indecent assault, two of sexual assault, and one of sexual assault with intent to rape was that he “reasonably believed” the women "to be consenting throughout". Nine of the charges relate to alleged incidents at Bute House, his former official residence in Edinburgh.  To get a sense of what she is saying, you have to read the transcript, Alex Salmond isn’t just a guy from down the street, he is arguably one of the most high profile people of the SNP and independence movement in recent memory, even although he cancelled his SNP membership, he is still seen as the SNP.

Judge Lady Dorrian described Salmond as a “well known political figure” and asked the jury whether they had any strong feelings, either of support or animosity, towards him which would stop them acting in an “unbiased” manner. She stressed they had to reach a verdict solely on the basis of the evidence in court and they should “cast aside entirely” any political feelings they had. She also warned them not to access any material about Mr Salmond or the trial on social media “in the interests of justice”.

Nine women and six guys of the jury don’t have an easy task.

Now, leaving the trial to one side, it runs for several weeks, one thing I have noticed is the remarkable mental health problems that serious SNP politicians and former SNP politicians claim to suffer from.

Former SNP Minister Derek Mackay attempts to “groom” a schoolboy, needs mental health treatment.

Former SNP Minister Mark McDonald harasses a woman assessed for mental health treatment.

Former SNP MP Natalie McGarry confesses to embezzling more than £25,000 from pro-independence campaign groups, pleads guilty and then decides she doesn’t like jail so appeals to get verdict overturned, jumps on the mental health bandwagon.

How many more times does this need to happen before people start to recognize a pattern? It seems in the case of the three above, Mackay, McGarry and McDonald that this is an attempt to paint themselves as victims. I had to watch the McDonald interview with some bemusement as he talked about his mental health assessment and thoughts of saying goodbye cruel world. The world is cruel when you get outed, especially in the press. One thing is certain, sex and politics don’t mix and neither does embezzlement and politics. Natalie McGarry is apparently in Court in April; this is for me a more important trial than Salmond’s.

Finally, I met Alex Salmond several times, we even had reasonably long talks since I was quite active in campaigning for the SNP prior to being smeared; I still have trouble wrapping my head around this trial. Met him in 2008 in Glasgow East, he came into the kitchen at the Glasgow East by-election and sat down to strike up a conversation with me as I was having lunch. He was very friendly, and he liked to talk to people even although he didn’t know me from Adam. Day two of his trial, and let justice be done.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University