Alex Salmond trial: Woman ‘was screaming inside’ during alleged attempted rape

A woman has told the court she was “screaming on the inside” during an alleged attempted rape by Alex Salmond – as she claimed she had “flashbacks” in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

The former Scottish government official, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has claimed she was sexually assaulted twice by the country’s former first minister at his official residence Bute House in 2014.

Salmond is standing trial at Edinburgh’s High Court charged with 14 sexual offences against 10 women, all of which he denies.

The former SNP leader is accused of two offences against the first witness: sexual assault and attempted rape.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the woman said she did not tell anyone about the alleged assaults at the time because Salmond “was a very powerful man and I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him”.

But she told the jury she started getting “flashbacks” in October or November 2017 in the wake of the Me Too movement after allegations came to light about disgraced movie producer Weinstein.

The court heard the woman sent a text to an SNP employee in November 2017 asking if she could discuss an allegation confidentially.

“I wanted to know if there was a process in the party which was secure,” she told the court.

“I was trying to figure out what the party was putting in place in the context of Me Too and what happened to me.”

The woman told the court she wanted her allegations against Salmond to be put on record in case he sought office again as an “ex-parliamentarian”.

The court was shown a text message exchange between the woman and another complainant in the case.

In the exchange, the second woman said she was “mulling over the AS stuff”, to which the witness replied: “I’m mulling too. But I have a plan. And means we can be anonymous but see strong repercussions.”

Under cross examination by defence QC Shelagh McCall, the woman said that no-one was “cheer-leading” her to give evidence and she had decided to speak to the police on her own.

“I’ve done this off my own back,” she told the court.

“I think you know how hard this is. This is not fun. I would rather not be here.

“I don’t feel like I was encouraged. I feel like I came to this decision on my own.”

The woman told the court she had felt “traumatised” talking about the alleged assaults because she was “scared of Alex”, and she was “bricking it” when she did report allegations against him.

Ms McCall asked the alleged victim why she did not alert a security guard at Bute House when she claimed she was sexually assaulted in May 2014.

The woman replied: “Looking back I wish I had screamed. I wish I had physically reacted. I turned to stone.

“All I wanted was to get away and for it to stop.

“I just felt humiliated by his actions, scared by them, embarrassed by them.”

The alleged victim said she did not want her colleagues to “gossip” about her and Salmond, adding: “I didn’t want anyone to think I was in any kind of physically, emotionally, intimate relationship with him.

“You just don’t know how you will react to these things.”

Ms McCall asked the witness if Salmond was naked during his alleged assault in June 2014, in which he is accused of attempted rape in the charge against him.

She replied: “Not initially no, but in the end. I remember him having his socks on.”

The woman added: “I just absolutely froze. I was screaming on the inside but not on the outside, is how I would describe it.”

She told the court she could not recall the “exact sequence” of events, saying it was “just flashes in my memory”.

“I don’t have a three-hour wall-to-wall memory,” she said.

“I have these distressing images repeating in my mind over and over and over again.”

The former Scottish government official said she wished she had “stood up and decked” Salmond during the alleged attack, adding: “Our job was to protect him as well. I didn’t fully understand what was happening to me.

“This was a man who was often aggressive, often bullying, who was forcibly trying it on with me for what felt like a very long time.”

She went on: “I wish for my life that I wasn’t there.

“I wish for my life that the first minister was a nicer and better man and I wasn’t here.”

Earlier the witness told the court she declined to attend an event with Salmond the day after the alleged attempted rape.

“I didn’t want to go,” she told the court.

“I felt like I was going to throw up. I didn’t want to be around him.”

Salmond – who was Scotland’s first minister from 2007 to 2014 – denies 14 charges covering a period between June 2008 and November 2014.

They include one of attempted rape, 11 of sexual assault – including one with intent to rape – and two of indecent assault.

The trial before judge Lady Dorrian was adjourned until Wednesday.

(c) Sky News 2020: Alex Salmond trial: Woman ‘was screaming inside’ during alleged attempted rape