A judge has thrown out the findings of a Scottish government investigation into complaints of sexual misconduct against former first minister Alex Salmond.

At a Court of Session hearing in Edinburgh, Judge Lord Pentland said the decisions were "unlawful in respect that they were procedurally unfair and that they were tainted with apparent bias".

Visibly trembling with emotion as he spoke outside Scotland's highest civil court, the former SNP leader called for Scotland's top civil servant, Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, to quit her post.

He said he was "glad to have won" the case "and sad that it was necessary to take this action".

Mr Salmond added: "The government has made an abject surrender in terms of the case before we even got to the first day of hearings.


"Back in August when I made my last comments on these matters, I said that the process that was used against me was unfair, unlawful and tainted by bias.

"I also said I was not guilty of any criminality. The first of these has been established. The second is to come.

"But a former first minister of Scotland requiring to take the administration of the Scottish government to court to establish that point should not have been necessary.

"I think the person responsible should be considering her position."

Image: Alex Salmond denies the allegations against him

Mr Salmond added he would be writing to the "more than 4,000 people" who contributed to a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for the judicial review and that any surplus cash would be donated to charity.

Lawyers for Mr Salmond argued that the Scottish government had acted unlawfully in its handling of complaints against him.

They stated that the process was unfair and tainted by apparent bias.

While civil service guidelines dictated there should be no contact between the people making complaints and those investigating them, Mr Salmond's lawyers said this was not the case.

In fact, they said, the civil servant who was investigating did indeed have prior contact with the complainants.

Mr Salmond's lawyers said she gave them a significant degree of assistance in making formal complaints against the politician - and claimed this bordered on encouragement.

Two women lodged complaints of sexual misconduct against Mr Salmond last year concerning alleged events in 2013.

The Scottish government accepted in court that there had been a failure in procedure and that an internal review would be carried out.

Nicola Sturgeon, who replaced Mr Salmond as both Scottish first minister and SNP leader in 2014, said: "It is deeply regrettable, perhaps that is an understatement, that as a result of a failure in the proper application of the procedure, the Scottish government has had to settle this matter."

She added Ms Evans had apologised to all involved" in the case, while the case being settled had "no implications one way or the other for the substance or the credibility to the complainers".

Ms Evans said the procedural flaw in the Scottish government's investigation was "deeply regrettable" and did not have implications "for the substance of the complaints or the credibility of the complainers".

She said the government would consider reinvestigating the complaints "once ongoing police inquiries have concluded".