Alex Salmond trial: Witness says alleged victim did not attend dinner at his residence on evening of reported incident

Businesswoman tells court she does not remember seeing Woman H at event

Alex Salmond faces 13 charges of alleged sexual offences against 9 women (Reuters)

A witness does not recall a seeing woman Alex Salmond allegedly attempted to rape on the night of the reported incident, a court has heard.

The woman, known as Woman H, accuses Mr Salmond of trying to rape her at Bute House in Edinburgh after a dinner in June 2014.

He denies the charge, claiming she was not at his official residence that evening.

However, he has said that he did have a “consensual sexual liaison” with the woman on a different occasion.

A businesswoman told the court in Edinburgh on Wednesday that she could not remember seeing Woman H at the event “at any point” on the night in question.

The witness also added she had not been drinking that evening, although a bottle of wine had been served to the table where she was sitting.

Responding to the prosecution’s suggestion that the complainer had attended the dinner, the businesswoman said: "I understand the police put that to me and I absolutely have no recollection of seeing [her] on that night."

The court earlier heard that Woman H had been one of Salmond biggest "cheerleaders" until he did not support a political project she had been working on.

As evidence, jurors were shown an exchange of text messages between Woman H and former SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, concerning the political project.

In one of the messages, written a year after the alleged attempted rape in June 2015, Woman H wrote: "Would be great to be working with him again."

Mr Salmond’s former principal private secretary, Karen Watt, also addressed the court on Wednesday, saying working for him was a “privilege and a penance”.

Ms Watt, who held the job between 2009 and 2012, added: "It was very exacting, very fast-paced, also very tough, you needed to be quite resilient."

The former first minister of Scotland is on trial in Edinburgh accused of committing 13 sexual offences against nine women. Mr Salmond denies all allegations.

There had initially been 14 charges, but one was dropped on Monday.

On Tuesday, the former first minister of Scotland told the court he had never had a non-consensual sexual relationship.

Speaking of the accusations, he said: "Some are fabrications, deliberate fabrications for a political purpose. Some are exaggerations, taken out of proportion."

The trial continues.

Additional reporting from PA