Alex Salmond trial: Scotland's former first minister acquitted of all sexual assault charges

Scotland's former First Minister Alex Salmond has been acquitted of sexual assault charges.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh returned verdicts of acquittal on 13 charges involving nine women.

Sources close to Mr Salmond have told Sky News he is now contemplating a political comeback.

Emerging from court, he said he had been through a "nightmare" and thanked his friends and family for "standing by me over the last two years".

Mr Salmond cut short further comment on the case to warn: "Whatever nightmare I've been in over the last two years it is nothing compared to the nightmare that every single one of us is currently living through. People are dying, many more are going to do so."

He told reporters to "go home - those who can - take care of your families and god help us all".

The 65-year-old pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which were alleged to have taken place between June 2008 and November 2014.

During the trial, the prosecution had described him as a powerful man abusing his power to satisfy his sexual desires with impunity.

Mr Salmond said claims against him were a fabrication for a political purpose.

He has been one of the UK's most prominent politicians over the past 30 years, and was the leader of the SNP from 1990-2000 - and then for a second period between 2004 and 2014.

He formed a government at Holyrood by winning the 2007 Holyrood parliament elections and led Scotland to the brink of independence in the referendum of September 2014.

He announced he was stepping down the day after the referendum defeat.

The investigations and court case have widened a rift between Mr Salmond and his successor, current First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The pair were once close friends and political allies, but their relationship has deteriorated over time.

Sources close to Mr Salmond have told Sky News he believes she played a role in conspiring against him, something Ms Sturgeon has denied, telling the Scottish Parliament in January 2019: "It seems to me that I am being simultaneously accused of being involved in a conspiracy against Alex Salmond, and also of colluding with Alex Salmond.

"Nothing could be further from the truth in both of those - neither of those things are true."

However, an SNP party source close to Mr Salmond has told Sky News that he believes a "conspiracy" against him could not have happened without her blessing.

The source said: "I think he saw it as Nicola Sturgeon having been involved in the conspiracy, if not at the heart of it, very near to the heart.

"Alex thinks that Nicola thought he was going to make a comeback and she and her husband (SNP chief executive Peter Murrell) were out to stop that happening.

"He claims, though, it was the furthest thing from his mind. The only reason he can think that they wanted to throw him under a bus is that they feared he would want to be first minister again.

"He'll certainly re-join the party and will want to stand in the Holyrood elections next year. I don't think he'll make a play to be first minister but I do think he will try to complicate Nicola's efforts to carry on."

The sources added: "He's suffered financially, this has cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds. His reputation has suffered because of a lot of stuff that came out during the course of the trial but I don't think it's terminal damage."

Nicola Sturgeon will face questions from a Scottish Parliamentary inquiry the Salmond affair.

She has previously told the Parliament that she first knew of sexual assault allegations being submitted to the Scottish government during a meeting with Mr Salmond himself on 2 April 2018.

During the court case, Mr Salmond's former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein gave evidence that she had attended a meeting with him five days earlier, on 29 March 2018.

The parliamentary inquiry will explore what Ms Sturgeon knew and exactly when she knew it - and how that squares with what she previously told Parliament.