Defence says case ‘stinks’ as jurors set to decide on verdicts in Salmond trial

JURORS have retired to consider their verdicts in the trial of former first minister Alex Salmond on sexual assault allegations.

Salmond (65) denies 13 alleged sexual offences against nine women, who were all either working for the Scottish Government or within the SNP at the time. The accusations span a period between June 2008 and November 2014 and range from him stroking a civil servant’s hair to trying to rape a former Scottish Government official in Bute House.

Judge Lady Dorrian told jurors they must decide whether the charges have been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

She explained there are three verdicts available — guilty, not guilty and not proven — the latter two both being verdicts of acquittal in the Scottish legal system.

The judge asked the jury to begin considering their verdicts shortly before 2pm yesterday.

Verdicts can be returned unanimously or by a majority, with at least eight of the 15 jurors needing to agree.

Earlier yesterday, Gordon Jackson QC, defending, said there was a “pattern” where “something that was thought nothing of at the time” has become a criminal charge in the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Jackson started his closing speech to the jury of nine women and six men with a quote from one of the complainers. “I wish for my life the first minister was a better man and I was not here,” he said.

He said

it was a “good line”, which was also used at the beginning of Crown prosecutor Alex Prentice QC’S closing speech on Thursday.

Mr Jackson said: “If in some ways the former first minister had been a better man, I wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t be here, none of us would be here.

“I’m not here to suggest he always behaved well or couldn’t have been a better man on occasions.

“But I’m in a court of law and I’m dealing, not with whether he could have been a better man, because he certainly could have been better.

“I’m dealing with whether or not it was established he was guilty of serious, sometimes very serious, criminal charges.”

Mr Jackson told the jury to find the charges proved requires a “very, very high standard of proof ”.

Mr Jackson suggested there was something “strange” about the allegations turning from being inappropriate to criminal, telling the jury the case “stinks”.

He said: “There’s something that does not smell right about the whole thing.”

Mr Jackson said Salmond has 30 years of public service, dealing with thousands of people, with charges coming only out of his time as first minister.