[ritchiebaby]

To be quite honest, I thought some of the women's evidence bordered on the farcical, especially the bedroom scenes in Bute House. What on earth did they think was going to happen in the bedroom???

[0762]

The biggest target after this acquittal, in a court case that has cost the tax payer £600k, is the permanent secretary to the Scottish govt, Leslie Evans. She made so many gross misjudgements in taking this case to a court of law when there was not enough substance to all these charges!! I can't believe she is still in her secure position at the top of the Scot Civil Service!! Salmond himself must have a huge "beef" against her for being subjected to this charade for over two years!!

[ritchiebaby]

I see that Alex Salmond's QC, Gordon Jackson, has been caught making disparaging remarks in public about Alex as well as naming two of his accusers. What on earth gets into these "important" public figures? Just shut your mouth - it's easy to do, but not if you have too high an opinion of yourself and he's yet another one whose arrogance is only exceeded by his ignorance. "Plenty brains, nae gumption" is the phrase that springs immediately to my mind.

Definitely not one of The Professionals.

[hibeejim21]

One things for sure Ritchie - Alex does not come out of this looking good at all. He needs to leave public life forever now, the fact that women were not allowed to work unaccompanied with him as first minister is an absolute scandal. Added to that the evidence showed that sturgeon has clearly been economic with the truth on the matter too.

This is just starting and has the potential to split the party.

[0762]

Nahhhh! Way back when this Salmond news broke in the Scot parliament, Nicola immediately called for a parliamentary enquiry that would scrutinise the roles of various people, including her, who were worthy of being scrutinised up to the point when Ecky was clearly gonna be prosecuted in the High Court. It also looks like Ecky is "keeping his powder dry" re the political ramifications, post trial and COVID-19 crisis. There is more unrevealed damning evidence to follow from him! One huge positive factor from a Scot indy perspective is the fact that Ecky was found NOT GUILTY and that is the "bottom line" in a court case in which the unionist press and usual shit heids already had Ecky guilty before the trial even began and were "lining up" to try and "put the boot" into the Scot indy movement, the SNP and a Scot indy pioneer called Alex Salmond, one of the legendary SNP rebels who campaigned relentlessly for a Scot Parliament and eventual Scottish independence. On a separate note, I'd love to know who took that video of Gordon Jackson on the train!!!?? That does not gel with me at all and how convenient from a unionist media point of view that someone should (covertly) be sitting in front of Jackson and recording his comments!! What a f###### world we live in when this kinda thing is exposed for what it is. And we in this country have the cheek to slag off Russia re stuff like this kinda shit!!! Huhhhhh!!!

[ritchiebaby]

Don't shoot the messenger, 0762.

The fact remains that, despite people sitting covertly all around him, Gordon Jackson opened his big mouth. All he showed was ignorance plus a total lack of professionalism. He should be for the chop for wanton breach of confidentiality.

[0762]

Don't shoot the f####### messenger??? Come on!!!! Sure Alex Salmond was never a perfect individual at the best of times and btw I was never one of his biggest fans, far from it!! Also Jackson has been exposed and will have to explain his behaviour to his peers. BUT I still find it questionable that a slimy scumbag is following people around in order to carry out secret surveillance to achieve what end?????? To pull a reaction from people like yourself by carrying such a covert action like this one? To "nail" Jackson" or was there a bigger political game plan being played out? Yeah, I'd like to see the background of the invisible, unaccountable person who did it!! I'd love to find out who he/she is (plus his/her background) and what motivation compelled this person to be located at the appropriate time, on an appropriate day on a well chosen train journey!! IT SUCKS and I, for one, gave it very little attention at the time for the very reason that I describe!!! It reminds me very much of the press antics in the old Tommy Sheridan case all these years ago with all the underhand, illegal methods that were used by the NOTW conspirators to "bring him down" and put him in jail and eventually led to the Levenson enquiry being formally actioned following Sheridan's early release from prison on proof of an act of perjury!!

[ritchiebaby]

Come on yourself, 0762.

I am absolutely certain that you and the people involved in this case have the nous to realise that slimy scumbags are all around waiting to pounce on any indiscretion, especially in this age of instant social media transmission. In fact, slimy scumbags have been with us for thousands of years doing exactly the same thing.

I have no beef with you about your reaction towards these people, but Gordon Jackson didn't need to be trapped into his comments by underhand means. He managed to do it all by himself. Add in the fact that, as a defence counsel, Jackson will have dealt with and defended a few slimy scumbags on occasions, so will be well aware of the lower end of human behaviour.

[hibeejim21]

Nahhhh! Way back when this Salmond news broke in the Scot parliament, Nicola immediately called for a parliamentary enquiry that would scrutinise the roles of various people, including her, who were worthy of being scrutinised up to the point when Ecky was clearly gonna be prosecuted in the High Court. It also looks like Ecky is "keeping his powder dry" re the political ramifications, post trial and COVID-19 crisis. There is more unrevealed damning evidence to follow from him! One huge positive factor from a Scot indy perspective is the fact that Ecky was found NOT GUILTY and that is the "bottom line" in a court case in which the unionist press and usual shit heids already had Ecky guilty before the trial even began and were "lining up" to try and "put the boot" into the Scot indy movement, the SNP and a Scot indy pioneer called Alex Salmond, one of the legendary SNP rebels who campaigned relentlessly for a Scot Parliament and eventual Scottish independence. On a separate note, I'd love to know who took that video of Gordon Jackson on the train!!!?? That does not gel with me at all and how convenient from a unionist media point of view that someone should (covertly) be sitting in front of Jackson and recording his comments!! What a f###### world we live in when this kinda thing is exposed for what it is. And we in this country have the cheek to slag off Russia re stuff like this kinda shit!!! Huhhhhh!!!

He was found 'not proven' on the most serious charge, which is not the same as not guilty as you know. His defence lawyer also said he should have been a 'better man'. He has behaved appallingly, and I speak as someone who admired Salmond greatly.

In my view sturgeon never thought Salmond would take the SG to court, which then put her in a bit of a spot as she could be called to give evidence. Now, I've read the (backdated) procedures which are short, and not for one second do I believe a mistake could be made to allocate the officer who had been in contact with the complainant as the action officer. The procedures are very clear on that.

It's all very convenient. Sturgeon will likely deal with eck out of court, and the civil servants will carry the can. It all leaves a very bad taste.

[0762]

Come on yourself, 0762.

I am absolutely certain that you and the people involved in this case have the nous to realise that slimy scumbags are all around waiting to pounce on any indiscretion, especially in this age of instant social media transmission. In fact, slimy scumbags have been with us for thousands of years doing exactly the same thing.

I have no beef with you about your reaction towards these people, but Gordon Jackson didn't need to be trapped into his comments by underhand means. He managed to do it all by himself. Add in the fact that, as a defence counsel, Jackson will have dealt with and defended a few slimy scumbags on occasions, so will be well aware of the lower end of human behaviour.

I'll quickly add that this kinda covert action is a blatant breach of any citizen's human rights and privacy! That is a fact and it should be condemned "out of hand" by any free-thinking citizen. It is alright saying it exists but it should be "stamped out" and offenders charged with such unlawful action anyway - a basic human right. Re Jackson, sources close to him and the Dean of faculty have said the remarks were "taken out of context and misreported" esp in many unionist newspapers. Lets "turn this debate on a sixpence" and look at the post trial media response. Ecky was cleared in the High Court of all the charges against him, but it appears that that's not good enough for some people, esp in RW press circles. Ever since the verdict was announced there's been a constant sniping against him, and aspersions cast upon him by people who were clearly "rubbing their hands in glee" at the prospect of a guilty verdict and who now are frustrated and angry that they've been deprived of a much longed for scalp. I hope Ecky takes many of them to a lawsuit much like Cliff Richard did against the bbc - similarly accused, innocent but NOT ANONYMOUS UNLIKE HIS ACCUSERS!!! Yet since his detractors can't get the conviction that they sought in court, they now seek a conviction in the "court of public opinion"!!! It is of course right and proper that anyone who alleges that they are the victim of a sexual assault is guaranteed anonymity - instrumental in encouraging victims to come forward and to report the abuse. However, IMO that same guarantee is not extended to those who are accused of said crimes. What an imbalance in justice, as we have seen in the fall-out from Ecky's trial. He left the High Court in Edinburgh an innocent man with no legal stain on his character but his political opponents have continued to say "ah but"?????? Don't be drawn into this nonsense!! There have been those who have claimed that in effect he might not be criminally guilty, but nevertheless he's still guilty??????? Absolutely outrageous but the RW press have been allowed to malign his character in lotsa stories thereby subverting the verdict of the court by asserting that "in their eyes" he is a person who should be condemned and rejected by the public - a highly political stance btw. WHILE THOSE WHO MADE THE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM REMAIN ANONYMOUS, HE IS LEFT EXPOSED TO THE FULL GLARE OF MEDIA COVERAGE. Given that the charges against him were unanimously rejected by the jury, THIS IS A GRAVE INJUSTICE!!!! Also A VERDICT OF NOT PROVEN ON ONE OF THE CHARGES DOES NOT MEAN "WELL WE THINK HE'S GUILTY ANYWAY BUT WE'RE GOING TO LET HIM OFF WITH IT"!!!!!??????? A majority verdict for not guilty does not mean "We think he's a little bit guilty". It means that the prosecution failed to prove their case and the accused has been found not guilty, 100% NOT GUILTY!!!
The only legal or moral verdict is that Ecky is innocent, totally innocent - not "innocent but a bit guilty really". There is no shade of grey in the verdict in a criminal trial and in this case the accused left the court a free and innocent person!!! Hence it is unseemly in the extreme for people involved in the case, or for those who have commented upon it, to try to gainsay the jury after the fact of the verdict. It is worth noting that had anonymity been extended to the accused, namely Ecky, as well as to his accusers, none of this would be an issue albeit in the case of a high profile individual such a right of anonymity would be difficult to enforce. Note for info such a practise is common in the Spanish judiciary system and I can see exactly why they have it embedded in their system of criminal law for years.