Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has said he ‘wished he had been more careful with people’s personal space’ as he started giving evidence in his trial.
Salmond took to the witness box at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday morning facing accusations of sexual assault and one of attempted rape.
The 65-year-old has 13 charges of alleged offences against nine women, all of which he denies.
He said he believes some of the allegations against him have been fabricated for political reasons.
Alex Salmond, 65, took to the witness box at the High Court in Edinburgh during his trial over accusations of sexual assault and one of attempted rape
The former politician said: ‘From where I stand now, I wish I had been more careful with people’s personal space, but there was no intention whatsoever to offend.
‘But I’m of the opinion, for a variety of reasons, that events are being reinterpreted and exaggerated out of all possible proportion.’
Asked why, Salmond said: ‘There were two reasons – one is that some, not all, are fabrications, deliberate fabrications for a political purpose. Some are exaggerations taken out of proportion.’
Salmond also said publicity over the past 18 months may have led some people to ‘quite innocently’ reassess their opinion.
But he added: ‘At least one of the charges against me on the indictment, I think there was a legitimate grievance, even if it wasn’t what actually happened and not what was presented at the time.’
The former politician faces 13 charges of alleged offences against nine women, all of which he denies
Salmond is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape, spanning a period between June 2008 and November 2014.
His lawyers previously lodged special defences of consent and alibi.
Consent was given as a defence for three alleged sexual assaults and an alleged indecent assault against three women.
Salmond was formally acquitted of one charge of sexual assault on Monday after the Crown offered no evidence, reducing the total from 14 charges against 10 women.
The Crown case concluded on Monday, while the trial before judge Lady Dorrian continues.
Salmond has denied claims there was a policy that prevented him being alone with female civil servants at the first minister’s official residence, Bute House.
‘No there was no policy like the one that’s been described,’ he said.
But he said there would be ‘a blurring of the normal social/professional boundaries’ in the ’24/7′ role with ‘people living out of each other’s pockets’.
Asked by his counsel Gordon Jackson QC if there were problems with female staff, Salmond said: ‘In general, no. There was an incident I was made aware of, but in general, no.’
Salmond is on trial over accusations of sexual assault, including an attempted rape, spanning a period between June 2008 and November 2014. His lawyers previously lodged special defences of consent and alibi
Salmond agreed with his barrister, Gordon Jackson QC, that ‘things that didn’t happen’ or ‘innocent things’ had been ‘turned into sexual offences’, as he was taken through the charges against him.
He said a civil servant in the Scottish Government, who accused him of grabbing her and trying to kiss her following a meeting in Bute House in 2010, had ‘misremembered’ the incident.
Known as Woman B, she told the court on Monday Salmond had asked to recreate an image of a Christmas card design, featuring a man and a woman about to kiss beneath the mistletoe.
‘I think over the passage of time the incident is misremembered,’ he said. ‘I did say, ‘let’s recreate the Christmas card. It was a joke, it was hijinks, it was a piece of fun. It was not meant to be anything more than that.
‘She said, ‘don’t be daft,’ and we sat back down again.’