A candidate for Alex Salmond’s Alba party is a convicted criminal who was fined for threatening political opponents.
John Marshall, who was introduced in a video by the former first minister, is trying to succeed alleged sex pest Jordan Linden on North Lanarkshire Council.
Labour MSP Martin Whitfield said: “A person who has been fined for harassing political opponents is not a fit and proper person to hold office. Alba and Alex Salmond are a busted flush.”
Pro-independence Alba are under pressure over the decision to select Marshall due to his chequered past.
In 2015, he was fined £400 at Hamilton Sheriff Court after admitting shouting, swearing and uttering a threat to rival campaigners ahead of the independence referendum.
He pled guilty to the charge of breaching a section of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. The court heard that Marshall, known as “Mash”, had three previous convictions for breach of the peace.
Jimmy Coyle, then a Labour councillor in North Lanarkshire, said at the time of the £400 fine: “This man [Marshall] went over the top with threatening behaviour towards people simply because they had a different view from him. That’s not democracy in any form.”
Despite Marshall’s conviction, Salmond unveiled him as the by- election hopeful in Bellshill for a place on North Lanarkshire Council.
He said: “I’m here with John Marshall, the newly selected Alba candidate.”
In an on-camera discussion with Salmond, Marshall added: “The SNP have held the roost in Lanarkshire before but it seems to me that that boat has sailed.” The Alba website urges backers to make financial donations to support the “fantastic” Marshall.
Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine said: “This is not the first Alba candidate with a history of such unseemly outbursts. In his continued desperation to remain relevant, the public will judge Alex Salmond by the company he keeps.”
The Bellshill by-election will be held on June 15 following Linden’s resignation from the council. He quit as SNP council leader and then from the local authority, over sexual harassment allegations.
An Alba spokesman said: “John has learned his lesson and knows how to conduct himself in an election – as evidenced by him standing previously in the 2022 Local Government elections. We are all behind him 100 per cent. John Marshall will be walking tall in this campaign.”
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