Day five of the Alex Salmond trial getting under way at the High Court. First Crown witness of the day is Woman K - named in a charge of sexual assault.
Woman K says she was at a dinner with Alex Salmond when he “forcefully” and “very deliberately” grabbed her buttocks; she says she was “mortified”, and that “I think my heart stopped”
Woman K says “I just wanted to do my job and feel proud of myself doing my job, and it felt like I was being demeaned. It was unprofessional, but there was nothing I could do about it.”
In cross examination, Gordon Jackson asks if Woman K initially reported this as being an abuse of power rather than a sexual thing? Woman K says “that was my interpretation - the first minister grabbed my backside because he could”.
Next witness is Woman J, an SNP party worker who Alex Salmond is accused of sexually assaulting.
(Court has taken a mid morning break, if you’re wondering about the lull in tweets)
Woman J says she went to Bute House with Alex Salmond after an event; he was on her phone so she followed him upstairs. She says he offered her a drink; she said yes, although “he asked me as he was pouring”
Woman J says she came back into the room from the toilet to find Alex Salmond lying on the floor; she says he told her to “come here” and help him work on a speech. She says she felt “panicked” but “didn’t want to anger him” so she lay down on the floor near him.
Woman J says Alex Salmond asked her if she’d seen “that zombie movie”, then had them stand up and he “did an impression of a zombie walking towards me”. She says he then took her by the shoulders and kissed her on the cheeks, then leaned in to kiss her on the lips
Woman J says she raised her arms to break Alex Salmond’s connection to her shoulders, and stepped back; she says she was “in complete shock” but says he “acted like nothing had happened”. She says she was “glad his reaction wasn’t angry
Woman J says Alex Salmond later touched her on the leg and face, and said she could stay over at Bute House; she tells court “there was no way in hell” she was going to. She says the next day, she felt “like I’d had an awful nightmare”
Shelagh McCall cross examining for the defence; she asks if Alex Salmond was a “touchy feely, tactile person”, who she had seen kissing members of the public? Woman J says yes. “That’s just the way he was?” Yes
Shelagh McCall says Alex Salmond says the alleged incident where he acted out a zombie film “never happened”. You’re going to tell me it did? Woman J says “yes”.
Shelagh McCall asks if Woman J told the police that she didn’t feel like she’d been a victim of anything; she says yes - she says she was “blaming myself”. “I was really annoyed at myself” - she earlier said she wished she had insisted on working on the speech at the desk
Shelagh McCall asking if Woman A & Woman H contacted Woman J after the Daily Record story broke; she says yes. Did Woman H encourage her to make a complaint? “No”. But she said she had a plan? J says “I suspected it was about speaking to the party” anonymously through a solicitor
After a quick bit of evidence from an acquaintance of Woman J who says she was “visibly upset and shaken” following the alleged incident, court breaks for lunch.
Back from lunch, and Crown call Woman D - a civil servant. Alex Salmond is accused of sexually assaulting her on various occasions at Bute House, Holyrood and elsewhere
Woman D says it was a “fairly regular occurrence” for Alex Salmond to place his hand on her bottom when they were walking together. She says “it made me feel extremely uncomfortable”, and that it didn’t feel inadvertent
Woman D says she “put up with” Alex Salmond allegedly touching her hair, her face, her arm, as “he was the leader of the country...i felt if I put in a complaint it would be my word against his and I was really concerned it would damage my career”.
Woman D says she was in a car with Alex Salmond on a foreign trip, she dozed off and woke up with him stroking her face. She says she was “really shocked” and it made her feel “pretty icky”
Woman D says on the same trip, she was in a lift with Alex Salmond and a colleague - she says Mr Salmond reached out to touch her face and her colleague “batted his hand away”, saying something like “what do you think you’re doing”. She says she was “utterly shocked and aghast”
Cross examining for defence Gordon Jackson asks if Woman D had shown Alex Salmond a photo of herself in a “somewhat skimpy bikini”; she says he had asked to see her holiday pictures. Gordon Jackson says “I take it you don’t just take bikini photos?” Why that pic? D “I don’t know”
Next witness is civil servant colleague of Woman D - he says he was in the lift, and Alex Salmond “reached out to touch [woman D]’s hair and face, and I brushed his hand away”. He says Woman D “shrank back” and he acted “instinctively”, saying something like “behave yourself”
In cross examination, Gordon Jackson says if Alex Salmond “was behaving inappropriately, he’s not doing it furtively in a corner, he’s doing it in front of a civil servant”. Witness agrees. Court is done for the day, and the week.
Yes it’s an early finish today, but Alex Prentice says he’s making good progress with his case - not losing any time by adjourning court until Monday. Expect Crown to finish up early (ish) next week, then the defence get their turn.
