Alex Salmond trial: Women 'not allowed to be alone with first minister at official residence', court hears
Women were banned from working alone with him聽at his official residence after a woman reported he sexually assaulted her there.
Thursday 12 March 2020 19:45, UK
Women were stopped from working alone with Alex Salmond at his official first minister's residence after an alleged sexual assault, a court has heard.
A woman told the High Court in Edinburgh that she raised concerns about the alleged incident at Bute House in 2014, and this led to a change in staffing rules.
Salmond is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape.
The 65-year-old former first minister of Scotland denies all the charges.
The woman, a Scottish government official who is the fifth complainant to give evidence at the trial, told the court she felt like a "plaything" after she was allegedly smacked on the bottom by Salmond in a previous incident in Glasgow.
She said: "Women were not to be alone with Mr Salmond in Bute House and he was not to receive any civil service private support (in the evening)... unless there was specific government business to attend to."
Salmond made "inappropriate comments" during the alleged incident, such as "what I would do to you if I were 26".
The woman added: "I thought it meant that he would try to have sex with me, to have sexual relations with me."
She claimed she got up and said she had to go, leaving Salmond looking "defeated".
Gordon Jackson QC, cross-examining the witness, asked why did not contact police.
She replied that it was "not an option" because she felt there would be consequences if it became public, including an impact on the Scottish independence referendum.
Earlier, the court heard Salmond got on top of another woman on a bed, kissed her "sloppily" and murmured she was "irresistible".
He is accused of assaulting the woman at Bute House in 2013.
The woman told the court Salmond had suggested they should go to his bedroom for work because it was cold.
He then brought out a bottle of a white Chinese spirit called Maotai and she drank a little.
When she got up to leave, she said Salmond told her "firmly" but not "aggressively" to get on the bed.
She said: "The first minister was lying on top of me, he had his hands under the skirt of my dress and ran them over my thighs and my bottom.
"He was also running his hands over the bodice of my dress and over my breasts."
She said she thought Salmond was going to "take things further", but later apologised after a meeting was arranged saying he had been "drinking more than usual" due to "stress".
She denied the incident was a "sleepy cuddle", or than she had invited him to kiss her on a previous occasion at Bute House.
Salmond faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges span a period between June 2008 and November 2014.
The trial continues.