Activist jailed for contempt of court

Clive Thomson named Salmond sex case accusers

A Fife activist who named women who gave evidence against Alex Salmond in the former first minister’s sex assault trial has been jailed for six months.

Clive Thomson outed the women on social media last August, breaching a strict court order which prohibited their identification.

The 52-year-old from Rosyth knew he was not supposed to name them but believed he was safe from prosecution because he was abroad at the time of one of the offending tweets.

Defence advocate Mark Stewart QC urged Lady Dorrian, Lord Pentland and Lord Matthews not to jail Thomson, saying he cared for his wife and was the family’s main breadwinner. But Lady Dorrian said it was the only option.

AScottish independence activist who named women who gave evidence against Alex Salmond has been jailed for six months.

Clive Thomson, 52, breached a strict court order which prohibited the identification of the complainers who gave evidence at the former first minister’s trial last year.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Thomson, of Rosyth, named the woman on Twitter on two different occasions in August last year.

Lady Dorrian – the judge who presided over the trial which resulted in Mr Salmond being acquitted of all charges – had passed the order during trial.

Mainstream journalists working in Scottish courts do not name complainers in sexual assault cases in order to prevent complainers’ privacy being breached.

However, the defence industry worker ignored the order and named the women on social media.

The court heard that he knew he was not supposed to name the women but went ahead and did so anyway.

He believed he was safe from prosecution because he was holidaying abroad at the time of one of the offending tweets.

The court also heard that he also sought advice from other Twitter users about how he could get around the court order.

Yesterday, defence advocate Mark Stewart QC urged Lady Dorrian, Lord Pentland and Lord Matthews not to send his client to prison.

Mr Stewart said Thomson cared for his wife who was currently shielding. He was also the family’s main breadwinner.

But Lady Dorrian said what Thomson did was so wrong that jail was the only option available.

She said: “The court has taken account of the fact that this was a deliberate and indeed planned contempt of court. It is a very serious matter.

“There are very good reasons why complainers in sexual offences cases are given anonymity.

“It so happens that the protection in this case was backed up by a specific order by the court to underline the importance and you knew that this order had been made

“Nevertheless you deliberately took it into your own hands to flout that order and post the names of those involved believing the second time that you were safe from proceedings from contempt of court by being abroad.

“You had given thought about how you were going to get away with it – you went as far as seek advice about that on Twitter.

“Clearly you decided to take a calculated risk. The reason for such protection is that the risk of public knowledge of their identities can operate as a severe deterrent to others making complaints to public authorities.

“This was a blatant and deliberate breach of the order which was likely to cause serious stress and concern to the complainers and interfere with the protection extended to them by the order.

“We have listened to the points advanced on your behalf.

“We are not unmindful of the effect that prison will have on your life and that of your family.

“However, for such a premeditated contempt, we are satisfied there is no alternative to a custodial sentence and we therefore propose to impose a sentence of six months.”

Mr Salmond was cleared of 13 charges of sexual assault last year. A further charge of sexual assault had previously been dropped by prosecutors.

NOT GUILTY: Former first minister Alex Salmond was cleared of all 13 charges of sexual assault last year.