An SNP party worker has described the night Alex Salmond imitated a zombie before allegedly sexually assaulting her as an “awful nightmare”.
The woman was giving evidence on the fifth day of the former first minister’s trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. The 65-year-old denies all the allegations against time.
The party worker, who has been identified as Woman J, explained she had attended a dinner with Salmond and independence supporters in September, 2014, before a breaking news story caused them to return to Bute House.
She described the former first minister walking into the building late at night while using her phone to make a call, which caused her to follow him inside.
Woman J said that Salmond poured himself a whisky before also offering her a drink.
She told the jury that at one point she left the room – finding the then first minister lying on the floor next to a table when she returned, while also encouraging her to join him there to work on a speech.
Woman J said: “We were talking about the speech and then out of the blue he said ‘Have you seen that zombie movie?’.”
Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, asked: “Did you have any idea what he was talking about?”
Woman J replied: “No.”
She described Salmond standing up and stretching out his arms and “clumsily” taking a step or two before her putting his hands on her shoulders.
Mr Prentice asked: “Then what did he do?”
Woman J said: “With his arms on my shoulders he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek, moved me out of the way and kissed me on the other check and then moved me again to kiss me on the lips.”
Woman J explained she then broke Salmond’s contact on her shoulders by lifting her own hands.
She said she remained at Bute House to continue work on the speech. The witness said Salmond also touched her knee.
Mr Prentice asked: “How did you feel when you woke up the next day?”
Woman J replied: “Like it had been an awful nightmare.”
She added: “I went over and over it in my mind. It was kicking myself for not doing the paperwork at the table. I felt with hindsight that it was premeditated.”
Giving evidence, a friend of Woman J described her as being “teary” when describing the alleged events in Bute House.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Shelagh McCall suggested the zombie impression had never happened.
She added: “You were asked about this encounter by the police. You said that you didn’t understand what had really happened and you didn’t really feel like you had been the victim of something.”
Woman J replied: “I blamed myself initially, yes.”
Earlier in the day a different complainer, Woman K, described Salmond “grabbing” her “backside” following a function at Stirling Castle in November, 2014.
The civil servant said: “It left me mortified. I just wanted to do my job. I wanted to be proud of myself. It felt like I was being demeaned. It was unprofessional and there was nothing I could do about it.”
During cross-examination, defence advocate Gordon Jackson QC said: “When you were interviewed by the police you didn’t think there was any sexual element to it?”
Woman K replied: “That was my interpretation. I can’t speak for the motivations. My interpretation was that the first minister felt my backside because he could.”
The trial continues.
