Salmond QC ‘to resign from top legal post’
Jackson will quit as Dean of Faculty of Advocates over naming ‘victims’
ALEX SALMOND’s lawyer is set to quit a prestigious legal role after he was filmed identifying two alleged sexual assault victims.
Gordon Jackson, QC, said he would stand down as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, a post he has held since 2016.
Mr Jackson had referred himself to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission after footage emerged last Sunday, in which he described the former First Minister as an ‘a ******* ’.
He was also caught on camera, while travelling by train, branding his client an ‘objectionable bully’.
The 71-year-old apologised for causing ‘distress’ – but insisted he had not called the former SNP leader a ‘sex pest’, as was claimed in a Sunday newspaper.
In tweets posted yesterday by the Faculty of Advocates, Mr Jackson said: ‘I have intimated my decision to resign as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, with effect from June 30, at the latest.
‘It would not, however, be appropriate for me to remain as Dean at a time when the faculty was considering disciplinary proceedings regarding my conduct.
‘Accordingly if, before that date, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission remits the recent complaint for consideration by the faculty’s complaints committee, I will stand down as Dean immediately. I do not intend to make any further comment.’
Mr Salmond, 65, was cleared on March 23 of 13 sexual assault charges against nine women.
After an 11-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, he was found not guilty of 12 charges, including one of attempted rape. Another charge of sexual assault with intent to rape was ‘not proven’.
Last weekend, Mr Jackson was forced to issue an apology and refer himself to the legal watchdog after The Sunday Times published the video online. It showed Scotland’s most senior QC travelling on a ScotRail train between Edinburgh and Glasgow during the trial.
Filmed between seats, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates was seen discussing the case at a table with an unknown person.
He was heard saying: ‘I don’t know much about senior politicians, but he was quite an objectionable bully to work with, in a way I don’t think Nicola [Sturgeon] is. I think he was a nasty person to work for… a nightmare to work for.’
He went on to say: ‘Inappropriate, a ******* , stupid... but sexual? Sex offender register? Not for you.’
Mr Jackson could also be heard using the phrase ‘sex pest’. However, due to the recording quality of the footage, it is unclear in what context this is said. He denies he regards Mr Salmond as a ‘sex pest’.
Mr Jackson also named two of the women who made accusations against Mr Salmond.
He said: ‘Unfortunately, [named] and [named] say it’s sexual.’
According to the newspaper, Mr Jackson went on to discuss one of the women, making her easy to identify – despite a contempt of court order ‘preventing the publication of the names and identity and any information likely to disclose the identity of the complainers in the case banning the identification of the women involved or details leading to their ID’.
This contempt of court order was put in place by judge Lady Dorrian on March 10 and still applies.
The code of conduct for the Faculty of Advocates states that an advocate must ‘respect the confidentiality of all information that becomes known to him in the course of his professional activity’.
Roddy Dunlop, the faculty’s vice dean, said last weekend that it was taking the matter ‘extremely seriously’.
‘A nasty person to work for’