Alex Salmond’s own lawyer has been caught on camera calling the former SNP leader a ‘bully’ and identifying two of his alleged sexual assault victims.
Gordon Jackson QC, 71, Scotland’s most senior QC, was filmed on an Edinburgh-Glasgow train while publicly discussing the high-profile sexual assault case.
Salmond, 65, was cleared on Monday of the 13 charges he had been facing – including an allegation of attempted rape – by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Gordon Jackson QC, 71, (pictured with Alex Salmond after his not-guilty verdict) Scotland’s most senior QC, was filmed on an Edinburgh-Glasgow train while publicly discussing the high-profile sexual assault case
In the video, allegedly filmed during the first week of Salmond’s trial and leaked to the Sunday Times, Jackson was heard talking about his client and saying: ‘I don’t know much about senior politicians, but he was quite a…bully to work with.’
He went on to say Salmond was: ‘Inappropriate, a******e, stupid… but sexual? Sex offender register? Not for you.’
The leaked video was released on the same day Salmond’s nine alleged victims published a statement revealing they are ‘devastated’ with his not-guilty verdict.
In the video, Jackson goes on to identify two of Salmond’s alleged victims, despite strict court orders in place to protect the anonymity of people in reported sex offence cases.
In the video, allegedly filmed during the first week of Salmond’s trial, Jackson was heard talking about his client and saying: ‘I don’t know much about senior politicians, but he was quite a…bully to work with
He continued to speak of one of the women in disparaging terms, saying he wanted to ‘put a smell on her’ – implying he wanted to tarnish her reputation so the jury wouldn’t believe her testimony.
Jackson’s actions seem to go against the code of conduct for the Faculty of Advocates that he has led since 2016.
It says actions must not ‘impair the trust and confidence which others place in him and his profession’, and that an advocate must ‘respect the confidentiality of all information that becomes known to him in the course of his professional activity’.
The nine women insisted they will not let the former first minister being acquitted define them – saying they hope their experience can lead to improved understanding of sexual harassment and assault.
They also said that while the experience of taking the case to court had been ‘traumatic’, it had been the ‘right thing to do’.
Salmond, 65, was cleared on Monday of the 13 charges he had been facing – including an allegation of attempted rape – by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh
In a joint statement, the nine women said: ‘While we are devastated by the verdict, we will not let it define us.
Their statement, issued by the charity Rape Crisis Scotland today, said: ‘Today we want to send a strong and indisputable message that such behaviours should not be tolerated – by any person, in any position, under any circumstances.’
The complainants, who were identified in the trial only as Woman A, Woman B, Woman C, Woman D, Woman F, Woman G, Woman H, Woman J, and Woman K, said: ‘The jury has delivered a majority verdict on the charges brought against the former first minister.
‘We are devastated by the verdict. However it is our fervent hope that as a society we can move forward in our understanding of sexual harassment and sexual assault.’
Jackson’s actions seem to go against the code of conduct for the Faculty of Advocates that he has led since 2016
They recalled that Jackson had quoted Woman H and said ‘his client should have been a ”better man”.’
In her evidence to the court, Woman H said: ‘I wish for my life the first minister was a better man and I was not here.’
And Mr Jackson told the jury: ‘If in some ways the former first minister had been a better man, I wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t be here, none of us would be here.’
In his closing speech, the lawyer claimed the case against the former first minister ‘stinks’ saying it comes from ‘this political bubble with no real independent support’.
A Rape Crisis Scotland spokesman commented on the leaked video today, saying: ‘Protecting the anonymity of all people who report sexual crimes is of critical importance and is one of few reassurances that can be offered as part of an otherwise daunting and intimidating process.
‘For this to be undermined by such a senior lawyer in a public place in such a high-profile trial is horrifying and completely unacceptable.
‘Jackson is Dean of the Faculty of Advocates and we cannot see how this behaviour – caught on film – is in keeping with the Faculty of Advocate’s own guidance on conduct.
‘There should be an immediate investigation.
‘One of the most chilling aspects of this is Jackson’s statement about his strategy for the cross examination of one of the women in the trial: ”All I need to do is put a smell on her.”
‘This statement alone confirms the fears of many, many survivors who do not report for fear of what would be done to them in court. Trials should be based on evidence, not on smears and attacks on character. We need an urgent overhaul of how these cases are dealt with.’
Salmond and Jackson have been contacted for comment.