Women were ‘warned not to be alone with first minister’

Alex Salmond trial: Day 4

Women were stopped from working alone with Alex Salmond in Bute House – the first minister’s official residence – after an alleged sexual assault, a jury has heard.

A complainer, known as Woman G, told the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday she raised concerns about the alleged incident in 2014 and this led to a change in staffing rules.

Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland, is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape.

The 65-year-old denies all the charges. Woman G told the court how senior civil servants implemented policies to help protect women at Bute House.

Prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice QC asked her exactly what changes had been brought in.

She replied: “The specific change was that women were not to be left alone with Mr Salmond in Bute House and he was not to receive any civil service private office support – I don’t recall whether it was after 7pm or 9pm – unless there was specific government business to attend to.”

The woman, a Scottish Government official who was the fifth complainer to give evidence at the trial, said she felt like a “plaything” after she was allegedly smacked on the behind by Salmond in a previous incident in Glasgow.

She told the court how she had gone for a meal with Salmond at a restaurant in Glasgow’s west end.

She said that he “smacked” her on the buttocks and she felt shocked by this.

Woman G added: “It felt demeaning. It made me feel like I was a plaything to him.”

She told the court that she confided in a colleague but decided not to pursue the matter further.

She said: “He was my boss and he just happened to be the most powerful person in the country.”

Woman G told the court on the second occasion, she was told by Salmond to come back to Bute House one evening.

She said that she returned to the residence because Salmond was not a person you could disagree with.

She claimed he offered her shots of limoncello in a room there and she started to feel trapped and intimidated.

“He began to make some inappropriate comments to me. I started to feel like I had to leave.”

She said she pretended to make her phone ring to make Salmond think that somebody was expecting her.

“He said ‘what I would do to you if I were 26.”

When Mr Prentice asked her what she thought this meant, the witness replied: “I thought it meant he wanted to have sex with me and to have sexual relations with me.”

Woman G said that Salmond then put his arm around her.

She added: “At that point, I started to feel panicked and he leaned into me.”

She said that she did not give permission to him to act in this way.

When Mr Prentice asked her whether she was frightened, Woman G replied: “Yes I was frightened. It was at that moment I thought if I didn’t get out that something really serious was about to happen.”

She said that she managed to get to the door and got away from him.

She added: “He was frustrated and somewhat almost defeated and I said something along the lines of ‘I’ve got to go.’”

Woman G said she was supposed to go to work the following day – but didn’t go.

When Mr Prentice asked her how she was feeling, she replied that Salmond was out of order. She added: “I was extremely embarrassed. I felt confused because I hated him for what he had just done to me.”

She also said that staff who worked for Salmond knew of his supposed bad temper, adding: “I think there’s a lot of allowances made for Mr Salmond because of his volatility.”

Gordon Jackson QC, cross-examining, asked why she did not contact police about the alleged incident.

The woman said this was “not an option” because she felt there would be ramifications if it became public, including having an impact on the Scottish independence referendum.

Mr Jackson also put it to her Salmond had been “playful” with the previous alleged incident in Glasgow.