Salmond cancels inquiry appearance
ALEX Salmond will not appear before the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish Government’s unlawful investigation of sexual harassment claims made against him after parliament redacted his already-published evidence.
Scotland’s former first minister had been expected to give evidence today about the botched investigation and face questions about his claims that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled parliament and breached the ministerial code.
But a Scottish Parliament spokesman announced on yesterday that he would not be attending.
He said: “Mr Salmond has informed the committee that he will not be attending tomorrow’s meeting to give evidence.
“The committee will instead meet in private to discuss the implications of Mr Salmond’s response and the next steps for its work.”
His lawyers wrote to the MSPs saying their client was available to appear instead on Friday.
Their letter yesterday said: “It is now clearly impossible for him to attend tomorrow in these circumstances, but he remains willing to attend on Friday.
“He accepts that is entirely in the hands of the committee to whom he has asked that we copy this correspondence.”
The Government’s investigation of the allegations was found to be “tainted by apparent bias” after it emerged the investigating officer had prior contact with two of the women who made complaints.
Mr Salmond, who was later acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault in a criminal trial, was awarded a £512,250 payout after he successfully challenged the lawfulness of the investigation.
A parliamentary inquiry, the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, was established to look into the Government’s actions.
In his written submission, Mr Salmond named people he claims were involved in a “malicious and concerted” attempt to see him removed from public life, including Ms Sturgeon’s husband and SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and her chief of staff Liz Lloyd.
Ms Sturgeon is still due to give evidence next week and has insisted Mr Salmond would not be able to prove a conspiracy.
ABANK worker who groped a woman’s breast at a concert will not be jailed. Mark Campbell, 42, pounced on the shocked 20-year-old victim at at a gig for YouTube star Marc Rebillet at Glasgow’s Barras Art and Design on November 30, 2018.
The married dad-of-four was pushed away and told to “f*** off” by the woman.
Campbell, who earns £90,000-a-year in computer infrastructure for a large corporate bank, denied the allegation.
But the first offender was found guilty of sexual assault after trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Lindsay Wood put Campbell, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, under supervision and on the sex offenders register for 12 months.
The sheriff said: “The victim was quite clear what happened, that you caused her difficulty over much of the concert.
“You were being too close to her and she repeatedly looked around.
“She was quite clear in evidence that you had your hand on her left breast over her nipple.
“At that point she pushed you off and told you to f*** off and that doesn’t seem made up to me.
“This appeared to be a deliberate act and it wouldn’t be surprising if drink played a part.”
The victim’s partner told the court in evidence that he heard her scream and turned to see Campbell pulling his hand away.
He said: “I couldn’t believe that had happened, we were pretty
shocked by it and she was particularly disturbed by the incident.”
The pair reported the matter to security at the end of the concert and Campbell’s details were taken.
Campbell told the trial that he went out with a friend at 2pm and had “four or five pints” before the incident, which took place around 11pm.
He stated that he went to the concert because Marc Rebillet, an
American singer, made fun of Donald Trump and other celebrities.
Campbell added: “Everyone was jumping about at the concert, bumping into each other.
“I would never intentionally touch any female other than my wife.
“It’s not appropriate, why would I go about touching people?
“I wouldn’t go about jeopardising my family by touching people, it’s nonsense.”