Alex Salmond investigated for sexual assault weeks after his death as new allegations emerge against former Scottish First Minister

Police are investigating a new sexual assault allegation against Alex Salmond, weeks after the death of the former First Minister of Scotland.

A woman reported the incident, which was said to be non-recent, to police shortly after Mr Salmond’s death at the age of 69 on 12 October.

It has previously emerged that up to six women approached the SNP to complain about Mr Salmond’s behavior more than two years ago.

It is understood that complaints of an alleged sexual nature were reported to Ian McCann, the party’s compliance officer responsible for disciplinary matters.

These were later said to have been brought to the attention of the SNP’s former chief executive, Peter Murrell, but were taken no further.

Now the SNP is gearing up for possibly more women to make sexual allegations against the former party leader.

A senior party insider claimed Mr Salmond’s inappropriate behavior, said to date back nearly 40 years, was apparently well known among leaders and aides.

‘About two years ago five or six complaints of inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature were reported to the party and went back to Peter Murrell,’ an insider said.

‘The allegations date back to the 1980s, including in Alex’s constituency of Banff and Buchan.’

Mr Salmond left the High Court in Edinburgh in March 2020 after being cleared of 14 counts of sexual assault and attempted rape.

At the time of his death last month, the politician was in the middle of suing the Scottish Government over its handling of complaints against him.

The Scottish Government has vowed to vigorously contest the legal case.

This week Mr Salmond was honored as a leader who brought Scotland ‘this much closer to the dream of independence’ and was remembered with tears and laughter at his funeral.

Mourners included Mr Salmond’s widow Moira and House of Commons speaker John Bercow, who gathered to pay tribute to the politician after he died suddenly during lunch at a conference in Macedonia.

The former SNP leader, who later founded the Alba Party, suffered a heart attack while speaking at the event.

He was saluted by giants of Scottish politics at the funeral in Strichen, Aberdeenshire, where Mr Salmond lived.

Kenny MacAskill, the justice minister in Mr Salmond’s government, described him as “an inspiration, a political genius, an orator, a debater and a communicator” after calling him “a giant of a man, the leader of our country, the leader of our movement”. without parallel’.