Salmond trial blogger given eight months for contempt

A man whose social media posts could have led to the identification of complainers in the trial of former First Minister Alex Salmond on charges of sexual offences, has been sentenced to eight months in prison for contempt of court.

Craig Murray, a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan and a campaigner for Scottish independence, posted a series of blogs and tweets during the trial in 2020, which resulted in Mr Salmond's acquittal on all 13 charges. They remained online until just before the contempt hearing in March this year.

The Crown raised concerns what he wrote could have led to four of the female complainers being identified, in breach of orders by the court protecting their anonymity.

At an earlier hearing the court, presided over by Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian, who was also Mr Salmond's trial judge, concluded that there was such a risk and that the articles constituted a contempt of court.

Passing sentence, Lady Dorrian said Mr Murray's actions had struck "at the heart of the fair administration of justice" and created a real risk that complainers would be reluctant to come forward in future cases, particularly high-profile ones.

He knew of the court orders and he was "relishing" the potential disclosure of the women's identities, which he believed was in the public interest. Revealing complainers' identities was "abhorrent", particularly given the enormous publicity which the case had attracted and continued to attract.

Dean of Faculty Roddy Dunlop QC, for Mr Murray, argued for a fine and that a prison sentence would be harsh and disproportionate given that he had an 11 year old child and a baby, and was already suffering from the impact of the case.

But Lady Dorrian said that notwithstanding his previous good character and his health issues, "we do not think we can dispose of this case other than by way of a sentence of imprisonment".

Mr Murray has been allowed three weeks to appeal.