The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Throng on Royal Mile as trial gets under way
Alex Salmond was accustomed to drawing large crowds during his career as SNP leader and first minister of Scotland.
But the throng of observers who gathered on the Royal Mile yesterday to greet his arrival at the High Court in Edinburgh would have made for a less welcoming sight.
A gaggle of photographers and camera crews took up position next to temporary barriers well before the former first minister’s arrival for the opening day of his trial.
Commuters making their way to work and French rugby fans preparing to leave following the weekend’s Six Nations clash added to the intrigued onlookers.
Salmond nodded and smiled at the cameras as he made his way into the building with his legal team.
Inside the courtroom the former SNP leader exchanged pleasantries with one of the two security guards who flanked him in the dock when he arrived.
At one point it appeared as if the trio were given sanitiser to rub on their hands during a break in the proceedings.
Shortly after 11.30am court staff pulled 15 names written on sheets of paper at random from a glass bowl and the jury members – nine women and six men – walked past the dock and into the box where they will decide the fate of Scotland’s longest serving first minister.
Legal rules normally require courtrooms to be closed when alleged victims of sexual offences are giving their evidence.
However, with almost 50 journalists in attendance yesterday and more spilling out on to the street outside, the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service took the decision to set up a television feed in a neighbouring courtroom so the case could be viewed while the jury, the legal teams and two reporters were permitted to remain inside.
Outside, supporters of Scottish independence stood on the street during the lunch break waving flags devoted to the cause.
Their display went largely unnoticed by the photographers whose focus was on capturing more images of Salmond and his legal team leaving the building at the close of the first day of what looks set to be a landmark case in Scottish legal history.