Salmond trial witness ‘came forward on back of Metoo’ campaign
A FEMALE Scottish Government official reported Alex Salmond for trying to rape her after suffering “flashbacks” triggered by the Metoo campaign, a court heard yesterday.
The woman told a jury at the former SNP leader’s trial that he was “a very powerful man and you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him”.
Although the alleged attack took place at Bute House, his residence as Scotland’s first minister, in 2014, she went to the police three years later “on the back of the Harvey Weinstein movement”.
The official, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed a “titillated” and “half cut” Mr Salmond, 65, who was naked apart from his socks, had “hunted” and “pounced” on her, stripping her naked on a bed at the Edinburgh residence on June 13, 2014.
Mr Salmond, from Strichen, Aberdeenshire, denies 14 sexual assault charges against 10 women, including an attempted rape.
Giving evidence on the second day of the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, she said: “Prior to saying this out loud, I didn’t know what happened to me was attempted rape. I just felt it was really bad.”
Explaining why she did not contact security to raise the alarm that night, she said: “You have to remember our job was to protect him as well.
“I didn’t fully understand what was happening to me. This was a man who was often aggressive and often bullying who was forcibly trying it on with me.”
She claimed she “turned to stone” when he arrived in the room, adding she was “screaming on the inside, but not on the outside”.
The day after the alleged attack she decided against going to a football match with Mr Salmond. “I didn’t want to go because I felt like I was going to throw up – I was distressed,” she said. “I didn’t want to be around him.”
The court was shown an email she sent to her office which read: “I’m going to have to cancel today… Last night’s dinner went well, anyway. Best wishes.” She told the jury of nine women and six men she felt “humiliated” and “in shock”, adding: “I didn’t process what happened for a long time.”
She rejected a suggestion by Shelagh Mccall QC, representing Mr Salmond, that she was encouraged to make her allegations. “There’s no one cheerleading me to do this. This isn’t fun, I would rather not be here,” she said.
She also denied Ms Mcall’s assertion that she was making it up and rejected a claim that she was angry with Mr Salmond for not supporting a personal project. The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.