Ex-diplomat faces jail after revealing names of Salmond accusers
A FORMER ambassador has been found guilty of contempt of court for identifying women who made sex assault allegations against Alex Salmond.
Craig Murray, 62, breached a court order which was passed to protect women who gave evidence at the former First Minister’s trial last year.
The penalty is up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine or both.
During a virtual hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lady Dorrian, Lord Menzies and Lord Pentland found Murray, a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, in contempt of court.
His lawyer John Scott, QC, previously described his client as a ‘beacon of integrity’ who offered people an alternative to ‘biased’ mainstream media reporting.
But Lady Dorrian, Scotland’s most senior judge, told Murray he had published articles online last year which breached the law.
During proceedings, which resulted in Mr Salmond being acquitted of all charges, Lady Dorrian passed orders which prevented journalists from naming the women who gave evidence against him.
Reporters were also ordered not to disclose any details about the women which would allow readers to realise their identities.
However, prosecutors claimed Murray breached the orders and published information on his blog which allowed readers to gain enough knowledge about the identities of the complainers.
Lady Dorrian said: ‘The court has concluded that having regard to the context in which the articles appeared – including the terms of the article of January 18 and the tweet referring to it on January 19 – that the articles of March 11, March 18, and March 19 and April 3 and the tweet of April 2 must be considered to constitute contempt of court relating to material capable of identifying four complainers.
‘We therefore make a finding of contempt of court.’
At a previous hearing, Mr Scott told the court Murray did not breach strict court orders imposed at the former First Minister’s trial.
He said his client had a passionate interest in ‘open justice’ and ‘whistle blowing’. Mr Scott said his client also saw the Alex Salmond trial as part of ‘a bigger picture’.
Mr Scott told the court that Murray’s partner had given birth to his son Oscar earlier this year. He also said that Murray had removed the offending information from the internet and was concerned about what the future may hold.
He said: ‘Steps will be taken to communicate the detail of what has been found in contempt of court.
‘In anticipation, despite not having seen the opinion of the court or being aware of the court’s conclusions, the respondent took down his blog page yesterday.’
Mr Scott added: ‘The respondent is also keen to communicate his anxiety and stress of these proceedings – especially the uncertainty of outcome and the possibility of a very serious penalty.’
Lady Dorrian deferred sentence until May to obtain reports.
An ambassador between 2002 and 2004, Mr Murray has been vocal in his belief that Mr Salmond was the victim of a conspiracy. A supporter of Scottish independence, he also stood for the position of SNP president at the party’s conference in November and received 20 per cent of votes in a three-way contest.
Writing on his blog, Murray said he expects he ‘may have to spend some time as a political prisoner’.
He also announced he was ‘temporarily’ closing his blog in light of the judges’ verdict.