One of Alex Salmond’s accusers in his sexual assault case has suffered death threats and been left too scared to leave the house since the trial.
The woman spoke out as she demanded an apology from a top lawyers’ body over the failure to resolve a complaint against the former First Minister’s QC.
She and another complainer blasted the delays in a Faculty of Advocate probe into Gordon Jackson about his alleged conduct during the case.
“We deserve an apology from the Faculty, we deserve accountability, and we deserve it now,” she said.
Salmond was cleared two years ago of sexually assaulting nine women while first minister after being represented by Jackson.
Footage then emerged which apparently showed Jackson naming two of Salmond’s accusers on a train, despite strict rules protecting their anonymity.
Rape Crisis Scotland complained on behalf of the women in 2020 but the Faculty of Advocates has still not finished its probe.
Speaking to the Record, one of the complainers said: “The video revealing Gordon Jackson bandying names around and smearing us not only brought the Faculty into disrepute but directly jeopardised mine and others’ safety.
"There have been repeated breaches of the contempt of court order, and it has become increasingly clear that the contempt of court act is no longer fit for purpose in a digital age.”
She added: “The women who have raised this complaint have faced injustice after injustice, on top of threatening and misogynistic abuse, particularly online, which the Crown Office has failed to protect us from in terms of our identities regularly being exposed.
“It’s meant I’ve been scared to leave the house, had direct death threats and my mental health has suffered severely.”
Another complainer hit out at the Faculty for paying for Jackson to go to a conference in the Bahamas, where he represented the Commonwealth Law Association.
She added: “The Faculty are quick to judge others, but the outrageous delay in this case, and the decision to allow him to continue to practice, suggests they are not currently fit to judge themselves.”
Sandy Brindley, Chief Executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said:
“It’s hard to have faith in the Faculty of Advocate’s ability to uphold their duty to complete a fair, robust and efficient investigation of one of their own for serious breaches of conduct, when at the same time they’ve coughed up expenses for his recent trip to the Bahamas.
“This entire process has been dragged out much longer than it ever needed to be, and it’s easy to see how the Faculty could be accused of closing ranks to protect one of their own.
“We believe that an independent body should handle complaints about Faculty members to ensure a fair process is guaranteed for all.
“There are very real consequences to Jackson’s actions for the women involved directly in the case, who have endured almost two years of never-ending delays.
“The Faculty of Advocates have a huge role to play in upholding law in Scotland but they are not above it. Like all of us, Jackson must be held accountable for his actions.”
Jackson, who quit as Dean of the Faculty after the train row, made no comment.
A Faculty spokesperson said: “On the complaint being remitted to Faculty in August 2020, it was appointed to a Complaints Committee, consisting of two QCs and two lay persons. In light of submissions made, the Complaints Committee decided that certain factual matters required to be considered by an Investigating Committee. The latter then asked for further material, which required to be ingathered.
"A further meeting of the Complaints Committee is scheduled for 25 March, and it is anticipated that a decision will follow shortly thereafter. Faculty is well aware of the need for expedition, as well as the need for fairness to all parties involved in this process. All reasonable steps are being taken to advance this to a conclusion. In the meantime, no further comment can be made."
The spokesperson also said of the Bahamas conference: "Regarding Ms Brindley’s comments on Mr Jackson’s attendance at the Commonwealth Law Association conference, he was appointed, in 2019, as the Scottish representative to the Board of the CLA. This is a biannual appointment, which for Scotland alternates between someone nominated by Faculty and someone nominated by the Law Society of Scotland. In 2021, he remained the Scottish representative, and it was appropriate that he attended the Commonwealth Law Association biannual event in that capacity.
"The agreement between Faculty and the Society is that the representative’s costs in attending such an event be covered by the professional body of which (s)he is a member. For 2023, that will be the responsibility of the Law Society. For 2021, it was the responsibility of Faculty. Mr Jackson QC was, however, not representing Faculty at that event: he was there representing the Scottish legal profession, as the Scottish member of the Board of the Association. As Mr Jackson remained on the Board, there was no basis upon which Faculty could or should have refused to cover his costs.”
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