Alex Salmond trial: Woman claims former first minister gave her 'very sloppy' kisses

Alex Salmond is at the High Court in Edinburgh for the third day of his trial.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond leaves Edinburgh High COurt on day two of his trial. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

A senior official in the Scottish Government has told day three of the Salmond trial how the former First Minister kissed her on the lips and touched her chest and buttocks when they were working together.Woman A said in 2008, there was a four-week period when she would meet the First Minister almost every day.

“He would come to greet me, giving the impression he was going to give me a kiss on the cheek and he would normally end up kissing me on the lips.”

Advocate depute Alex Prentice QC asked; “Did you encourage that?”

Woman A replied: “Absolutely not.”

Mr Prentice asked: “How did it make you feel?”

She said: “Quite disgusted, embarrassed and quite humiliated. I didn’t know how to react to it.”

Asked to describe Mr Salmond’s kisses, she said: “Very sloppy and very unpleasant.”

She said if there were other people around he would not do it so she tried to have other people with her when she met him.

Woman A also described how Mr Salmond sometimes put his hand on her back and slid it to the side of her chest or to her buttocks.

She said: “I remember he put his hand on my back walking along the street and slid it down to be on my bum and left it there.”

Mr Prentice asked if she believed it was accidental or deliberate.

She said: “I took the view it was deliberate. I had been around other politicians and no one else dd it. There was no need for it.”

She said she had not told Mr Salmond to stop touching her.

She said: “I liked my job, I wanted to do my job well. I didn’t know him very well. He was the most powerful man in the country. I didn;t know what would happen if I said ‘Get off’. I had experienced some volatile mood swings.”