By Canadian Press

Ex-Scottish leader acquitted on all sex-crimes charges

Mar 23, 2020 | 9:22 AM

A jury on Monday cleared former Scottish leader Alex Salmond of all sex-crimes charges he was facing in an Edinburgh court.

Jurors had retired to consider their verdicts on Friday.

Salmond, 65, denied all 13 alleged sexual offences, including one of attempted rape, against nine women. The women either worked for the Scottish government or within Salmond’s Scottish National Party at the time the offences are alleged to have taken place.

The accusations ranged from Salmond stroking a civil servant’s hair to trying to rape a former Scottish government official in the leader’s official residence in Edinburgh.

Salmond led the pro-independence Scottish National Party for 20 years and headed Scotland’s semi-autonomous government as its first minister from 2007 to 2014.

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A major figure on the Scottish political stage for decades, he took Scotland to the verge of independence from the U.K. by holding a 2014 referendum on separation. He stepped down as leader after the “remain” side won the vote 55% to 45%.

The Associated Press