A former Scottish Government official who has accused Alex Salmond of trying to rape her has revealed she was “scared” to come forward – describing the former first minister as a “powerful man”
The witness, who has only been named as Woman H, was giving evidence for a second day at the High Court in Edinburgh this morning.
Messages read by advocate depute Alex Prentice revealed she had approached SNP officials in November 2017 – telling staff they would be able to “guess” who the sexual misconduct allegations were about.
The woman explained she had been “cautious” about reporting her experiences, which allegedly happened in Bute House in June 2014, due to wanting to understand the reporting process and wanting to feel “secure” while remaining anonymous.
Mr Prentice asked: “Why did you want to feel secure?”
Woman H answered: “The first minister is a very powerful man. I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him.”
During cross-examination, defence counsel Shelagh McCall showed the jury an e-mail written by Woman H in October 2017 asking Salmond to attend a fundraising event – telling him it would be “like the good old days”.
Mrs McCall also revealed Woman H had contacted SNP officials about her concerns on November 5, 2017, the day after Aberdeen Donside MSP Mark McDonald resigned as a Scottish Government minister, suggesting that the alleged victim suspected Salmond may have been considering standing in a possible by-election to replace him.
Woman H said: “I wanted there to be a record internally in the party of what had happened to me.”
Mrs McCall asked: “You didn’t want Mr Salmond to pass any future vetting process?”
Woman H replied: “I was concerned about other women being subjected to what I was subjected to.”
And she further added that she reported her concerns after being motivated by the wider Me Too movement.
However, Woman H also said she had not “linked” Mr McDonald’s resignation with the alleged incident in Bute House.
Woman H’s cross-examination will continue this afternoon.
