Former SNP council leader jailed for sexual offences

A former SNP council leader guilty of multiple sex offences against young men and teenagers was jailed for 18 months on Wednesday.

Jordan Linden, 30, who led both North Lanarkshire Council and the Scottish Youth Parliament, was handed a jail sentence for sexual multiple sex offences against young men and teenagers, and put on the sex offenders register, at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

Linden, who left the SNP in 2024, was convicted of ten separate offences in March following a trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court, including five sexual assaults.

He was also found guilty of three counts of engaging in a course of conduct causing fear or alarm and of charges involving sexual communication in offences over the period 2011 to 2021.