Salmond: Two raps are from old law
Sex charges date back at least 8 years
Two of the sex crime charges against Alex Salmond date back at least eight years, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
The former First Minister was accused of two attempted rapes, nine sexual assaults, two indecent assaults and a breach of the peace last week.
But while several of the accusations relate to the 2009 Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act, which came into force on in December 2010, the two allegations of indecent assault pre-date that legislation.
New laws saw the offence of indecent assault replaced with more specific charges in the new Act.
A senior legal source said: “The act came into force in December 2010 so in the case of an offence that predates that, it has to be under whatever the previous offence was. “And at that time, indecent assault was a common law crime not under statute.”
Salmond, 64, made no plea during a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was released on bail before declaring he was “innocent of any criminality”.
The Crown will now likely bring the case to court within a year.
The former MSP’s wife is reported to have said she will stand by him as he prepares to stand trial.
Moira Salmond, 81, is understood to have been the first person S almond phoned after his court appearance on Thursday.
Salmond’s Scottish Government introduced the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament in June 2008.
It was passed by the Parliament in June 2009 and came into force on December 1, 2010.
Salmond’s charges came two weeks after he was at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, where he challenged a complaints process used against him by the Scottish Government.
The Government conceded that its internal investigation against him was flawed.
He had launched a judicial review against thee administration he once led overr its handling of the inquiry, saying he had been treated unfairly.
The legal move challenged thee processes used, not thee substance of the complaints.
It was last night unclear whether Salmond would be continuing with the TV showw he presents.
He has a weekly programmeme on RT, the Kremlin-funded ed channel formerly known as Russia Today.
Salmond was First Minister from 2007 until resigning after the failed in depend en cence referendum of 2014. He is widely regarded as the architect of the modern SNP movement and electoral success. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to appear on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today, when she is likely to beb asked about the case. In I another development , students stu at Heriot-Watt University are reported to be considering a demand dem to remove a commemorative stone sto unveiled by Salmond. Student union leaders at the Edinburgh Ed university have consulted co members on whether they th should act, following the sex charges. But 60 per cent of students who responded to an online poll said the move was premature while legal proceedings are active.
Salmond unveiled the stone on his final day as First Minister in November 2014.
A quote he made while leader of the SNP is carved into the side of the rock. It says: “The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scotland’s students.”
A Heriot- Watt Universit y spokesman said it would be “inappropriate” to comment.