Witness’s mother says she cried: ‘Oh my God, has he killed Moira?’
THE mother of a woman who has accused Alex Salmond of sexual assault said her daughter tearfully told her she knew something about him that could ‘change everything’.
Giving evidence yesterday, the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said her daughter, Ms G, was ‘crying’.
She said: ‘I recall her crying, she said, “I know something that’s going to change everything”.’
The woman said: ‘I had to keep asking her what was it about’. Her daughter then told her it concerned Alex Salmond.
Advocate depute Alex Prentice, QC, asked her if she had asked her daughter for more detail on what had happened.
She recalled that she had asked about Salmond’s wife, saying: ‘I remember I said, “Oh my god, has he killed Moira?”.’
Salmond faces 14 charges of alleged offences against ten women, to all of which he has pleaded not guilty to.
In her evidence, Ms G was asked by Gordon Jackson, QC, representing Salmond, why she did not raise her own allegations about Salmond in an internal Scottish Government investigation.
She said she was ‘concerned about her position’, adding: ‘I was concerned about the implications of preparing an internal Scottish Government investigation, but also the fact the Scottish Government was handling it.’
Ms G said she had raised the question of what its plans were ‘in the event of retaliation from Mr Salmond’ with a government official. She said: ‘What would happen if he [Salmond] were to take it to judicial review? That may happen.’ But she said she was told it would not be in his ‘interests to do that’.
Ms G said she believed those leading the investigation ‘really had no idea who they were dealing with’. She said: ‘I felt regret at not being in a position to share those experiences. I felt there was too much risk and I was not willing to take part in it.’
The charges span a period between June 2008 and November 2014.
Salmond has lodged special defences of consent and alibi for some of the charges.
The trial continues today.