The late First Minister Alex Salmond and judge Lord Fairley who insists perjury claims must go ahead.
By Democrat reporter
Police Scotland has confirmed that it is still investigating a senior civil servant over claims he gave false evidence under oath during a Holyrood inquiry into the Government’s handling of sexual misconduct claims against the late First Minister, Alex Salmond.
Police Scotland is conducting inquiries into a claim that the civil servant who is accused of providing a false statement to the inquiry, which took place while Alex Salmond was in the midst of suing the SNP Executive over an alleged conspiracy to ruin his reputation when he died last October.
The court case has been paused while detectives investigate James Hynd, who gave evidence into how sexual misconduct allegations against Mr Salmond were handled.
Mr Hynd was responsible for drawing up the government’s policy on the handling of complaints involving former and current ministers – the policy under which Mr Salmond was investigated.
Gordon Dangerfield, the former First Minister’s lawyer, told a court that Operation Broadcroft was ongoing, and that the case should be paused until this concluded.
He said police were looking into claims that a “very, very senior civil servant – Mr James Hynd – gave a false statement on oath at the inquiry”.
Polic Scotland confirmed its investigations were still live even after Mr Salmond’s sudden death in October last year.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We are investigating a complaint in relation to evidence provided to a Scottish Parliament committee. These inquiries are ongoing and we are unable to comment further.”
This court case has been paused since Alex Salmond’s death as his family will need to decide whether to continue with it.
His friend Kenny MacAskill insisting he would be aiming for justice for Mr Salmond, and that he hoped they would go ahead with it.
It raises the possibility that the case will go back to court.
He said this meant the civil case should be “sisted” but Judge Lord Fairley refused this following an objection from the Scottish Government who pointed out that it had been sisted three times since it was first raised in November 2023.
A Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service spokesman said that the case had now been paused until September 19 this year.
A government spokeswoman said: “It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on a live police investigation.”