Alex Salmond trial: who is Alex Prentice QC - the lawyer leading the former First Minister’s prosecution

Three of the most experienced trial lawyers in Scotland are appearing in court in Edinburgh this month for Alex Salmond’s trial.

Alex Prentice will lead the prosecution in the case against the former First Minister. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The former First Minister stands accused of 14 charges of sexual assault - all of which he strongly denies.

Alex Prentice QC is leading the prosecution, with Gordon Jackson QC tasked with Salmond’s defence and Shelagh McCall QC as Junior Council.

Here’s everything you need to know about Alex Prentice QC.

Alex Salmond has pleaded "not guilty" to all of the charges brought against him. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Who is Alex Prentice QC?

Alex Prentice qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and then as a Solicitor Advocate – meaning he could practice in the High Court - in 1994.

He practiced as a defence attorney for 21 years before becoming the first Solicitor Advocate from outside the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to be appointed as an Advocate Depute

Prentice was then appointed as a Senior Advocate Depute in 2006 and became a QC the following year.

What other famous cases has Prentice been involved in?

The Alex Salmond case will not be the first time Alex Prentice has found himself involved in a high-profile trial.

His reputation today has been bolstered greatly by his success prosecuting difficult murder cases such as the shotgun murder at the Marmion pub and the killing of Surjit Singh Chhokar.

The latter was especially remarkable as it was only the second time in Scottish legal history that a person had been tried twice for the same crime.

Following unsuccessful prosecutions in 2000 and 2001, a conviction was finally made in 2016 – 18 years after the crime was committed.

In 2012, Prentice has also succeeded in seeking a murder conviction in cases where no body was present on two separate occasions – in the case of the murder of Suzanne Pilley and in the re-trial in the murder of Arlene Fraser.

The Arlene Fraser re-trial gained as large amount of public attention as the man convicted of her murder, her husband Nat Fraser, continued to claim innocence.

In a rare occurrence, the re-trial was televised by Channel 4 for the show The Murder Trial, which heavily featured Prentice himself.

Alex Prentice also prosecuted the 2010 perjury case against the Solidarity party leader Tommy Sheridan.

After previously winning a defamation case for claims made about him by the News of the World, Sheridan was found to have lied in court and was consequently charged with perjury. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.

What will his role in the Salmond case be?

Alex Prentice will lead the prosecution’s case against Alex Salmond.

The former First Minister stands accused of 14 accounts of sexual assault, including one of attempted rape.

Alex Salmond has pleaded “not guilty” to all charges.

His defence have claimed that Salmond believed there to be consent in four of the incidents in question and a special defence of alibi has been lodged regarding another.

The trial continues.