ALEX Salmond’s former defence lawyer has been banned from practising for 15 weeks.
During the former first minister’s trial relating to allegations of sexual assault – of which he was cleared – Gordon Jackson KC was filmed discussing the case while on a train.
He was heard to name two of the complainers from the trial while on the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow.
The video was subsequently passed to The Sunday Times newspaper.
As well as naming the two against an order of the court, he was heard saying of one: “We thought that eventually people might think she’s a flake and not like her.
“All I need to do is put a smell on her.”
Jackson later resigned from his position as dean and referred himself to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.
After initially being suspended for five months, the sanction was reduced to 15 weeks on appeal.
A document released by the Faculty of Advocates - who took over the investigation into the complaint - said his actions “plainly amount to professional misconduct”.
It read: “Mr Jackson named two complainers in a public place in which other members of the public were present during a discussion about the Salmond trial.
“He did so openly and afforded a member of the public the opportunity to record the conversation on a mobile phone.
“[The person he was speaking to] herself stated that she was shocked by Mr Jackson’s conduct.
“In compromising the anonymity of complainers in what was a highly public trial in the knowledge that the court had made an order to secure anonymity was, in our view, a serious and reprehensible departure from professional standards with which all advocates must comply.”
A submission from the KC, who also served as a Labour MSP between 1999 and 2007, said he “did not intend” to name the complainers.
The document went on: “Having regard to all the factors mentioned above, we have concluded that suspension from practice for a period of 15 weeks is the appropriate penalty in this case.”
Another complaint was made by Rape Crisis Scotland chief executive Sandy Brindley regarding the same incident, however, the commission opted not to increase the sanction.
