Botched Holyrood probe upheld five complaints made against Salmond

Acontroversial Scottish Government investigation upheld five counts of sexual harassment against Alex Salmond before being struck down by the courts, we can reveal.

The conclusions of a near-eight-month probe by Scotland’s most senior civil servant, permanent secretary Leslie Evans, can be made public for the first time.

Two female civil servants, known as Ms A and Ms B to protect their identities, alleged that Mr Salmond had sexually harassed them during his time as Scotland’s first minister.

The findings of the investigation are disclosed in a new book, Break Up: How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War, by Courier editor David Clegg and Times journalist Kieran Andrews.

It reveals that Mr Salmond had originally faced 11 separate harassment complaints from Ms A and Ms B.

After a probe, Ms Evans upheld five, dismissed three and made no ruling on another three for procedural reasons.

The book says: “Ruling on complaints from Ms A and Ms B, Evans wrote that his conduct on a number of occasions was ‘unwanted and of a sexual nature’ and had the effect of ‘violating’ their ‘dignity’ and ‘creating an intimidating, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment’.

“Some of the allegations were considered so serious that Evans decided they should be referred to the police – despite both women expressing reservations about becoming involved in a criminal investigation.

“Ms A’s four complaints – three of which would be upheld by Evans – alleged a rapidly-escalating pattern of behaviour by Salmond that ultimately resulted in the December 2013 Bute House encounter that would become a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape.”

Mr Salmond was cleared in March 2020 of 13 counts of sexual assault, including a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape, following a two-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh and has always denied sexually harassing anyone.

The investigation by Ms Evans was void within months of being completed, after Mr Salmond successfully challenged its findings in a judicial review.

The Court of Session ruled in January 2019 that the probe was unlawful, unfair and “tainted by apparent bias” because the investigating officer had prior contact with the women making the complaints.

It later emerged that Ms Evans, who ultimately made the decision on which allegations to uphold and which to reject, also had contact with Ms A and Ms B.

Mr Salmond was later awarded an uprated £512,250 in legal costs in a sign that the court was unimpressed with the Scottish Government’s conduct in court.

Ms Evans has recently announced she is stepping down from the role of permanent secretary.

The book details the chaos at the heart of the government as its legal case fell apart during the judicial review.

The advice of external counsel brought in to advise ministers was repeatedly ignored and panicked searches were made to try to uncover evidence that civil servants had failed to provide to the court despite promising to do so.

The conclusions reached by Ms Evans were “reduced” by the court, a Scottish legal term meaning they were set aside or annulled by the judicial review process, and the report was never issued publicly.

A decision on reopening the Scottish Government investigation was initially delayed in order to let the criminal case against Mr Salmond proceed but has not been revisited in the wake of his acquittal and the subsequent parliamentary inquiries.

The original complaints are officially still on the books of the Scottish Government and could in theory be re-examined at any point.

But with the former first minister having successfully taken legal action against the Scottish Government over its handling of those allegations, Mr Salmond insisted that any leaking of her conclusions “undermines the entire purpose and outcome of the successful judicial review”.

The former SNP leader, who now heads up the rival pro-independence Alba Party, insisted that as a result the publication of this was an “attack on the administration of justice itself ”.

Mr Salmond said he was now consulting with lawyers on a number of issues.

INVESTIGATION: Ex-first minister Alex Salmond has always denied any wrongdoing.