Scotland Yard detectives have dropped an investigation into former first minister Alex Salmond after a case review.
Allegations dating back to Mr Salmond’s time as an MP at Westminster were passed to the Metropolitan Police in January last year.
At the time “one allegation of crime was recorded” by police, but after officers discussed the case with the woman involved this week it was decided the matter would not be pursued.
Mr Salmond was acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault, attempted rape and indecent assault at the High Court in Edinburgh in March.
Mr Salmond’s defence during the trial claimed he had been the victim of a political conspiracy.
The Met confirmed today that it was no longer investigating any complaints against Mr Salmond.
A police spokesman said: “In January 2019 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was passed information linked to an ongoing investigation in Scotland.
“Specialist officers launched a review of the information to ascertain if any criminal offences had been committed within the Metropolitan Police District. In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, no further action was taken in relation to the information provided.
“In March 2020, MPS carried out a further review of the information and one allegation of crime was recorded. The complainant was contacted by officers.
“Following this contact, the investigation was not proceeded with and no further action was taken.”
Mr Salmond, who has not spoken publicly since his trial, is due to give evidence to Holyrood’s inquiry into the unlawful handling of complaints against him in the days and weeks ahead.
The parliamentary inquiry was set up in January 2019 after the Scottish Government conceded that an internal investigation of sexual misconduct complaints against the former first minister had been unlawful.
After the Scottish Government paid out £500,000 in expenses to Mr Salmond, MSPs established a special committee to dig into what had gone wrong – but this was quickly put on hold when criminal charges were levelled.
Now that Mr Salmond has been acquitted, the committee has begun its work in earnest.