Former diplomat in contempt of court over Salmond trial blogs

Craig Murray attended two days of the former first minister's High Court trial, and wrote a series of blogs about it

A former UK diplomat has been found in contempt of court over blogs he wrote about the trial of Alex Salmond.

Craig Murray - a former ambassador to Uzbekistan - posted a series of articles online about the former first minister's high court trial in 2020.

Prosecutors raised concerns that complainers could be identified via his writing, breaching a court order.

Judges concluded that the articles "constitute contempt of court", and Murray will be sentenced on 7 May.

Lady Dorrian said Murray had published material "capable of identifying four different complainers" from the trial, which saw Mr Salmond acquitted of charges of sexual assault.

The judge had made an order during the trial in March 2020 to prohibit the identity of the women involved - or any information which could lead to them being identified - from being disclosed.

Written reasons for the judgement, taken by a panel of three senior judges, will be published in due course, before a further hearing on 7 May.

John Scott QC, representing Murray, said he had taken his blog offline on Wednesday and was suffering "anxiety and stress over these proceedings".