Former SNP politician felt 'betrayed' after sex allegations emerged, court hears

A former top SNP politician facing more than a dozen sex charges wept as he told a jury he felt “gutted, betrayed, burned and done over” after allegations about his behaviour emerged.

Jordan Linden, 30, former chairman of North Lanarkshire Council and of the Scottish Youth Parliament, faces 15 charges including sexual assault, causing fear and alarm and indecent communication towards 12 males aged 14 to 23 during his time in the political party.

He denies them all – saying they either did not take place, or were consensual.

Frequently struggling to maintain his composure and sometimes breaking down, he gave evidence on the fifth day of his trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

He said he had been bullied at school and joined the Scottish Youth Parliament to make friends and “stand up for people similar to myself who were openly gay”.

He described himself as a hugger and said he would often kiss people on the cheek in greeting, but he told his counsel David Moggach KC he’d “never had an adverse reaction” to this.

He admitted sending photographs of himself having a bubble bath to other MSYPs but said they were “generic, sent to multiple recipients, and were not inappropriate”.

He said: “I was naive and silly. There were none where the bubbles were not sufficient to cover my modesty.

“It was daft and stupid and if I could take it back I would.”

He said that “sexual calls” where he was said to have rung a member up at night “puffing and panting” did not take place.

He told Mr Moggach: “Inevitably in an organisation involving young people like ourselves, there were spats, there were fall-outs, there were unhappinesses, talking about one another, it was playground stuff, in hindsight.”

The court heard that Linden had left the youth parliament and quit as its chair in 2016 after an investigation.

He said this was after explicit images of himself began to circulate amongst the 150 members, whom the court has heard were aged 14 and up. He denied circulating these images.

He said after this he “ceased to engage” with almost all the members of the youth parliament.

He said: “Following the youth parliament’s investigation I felt hurt.

“I felt done over by what was happening to me in terms of the sharing of images and decided I didn’t want to have any contact with anybody who was involved.

“I left the youth parliament that world behind including all the people I’d met as a result.”

On one occasion he broke down in the witness box in tears, forcing the court to be briefly adjourned, as he complained that one of his alleged victims had been “trying to whip up hate” against him and was talking about contacting the media.

Sobbing, he said: “I felt gutted and betrayed.”

He added: “I felt burned, I felt that even people I’d really trusted I could no longer trust.”

Answering some of the specific allegations, Linden admitted that he had climbed into the bunk of an 18-year-old member of Young Scots for Independence – the SNP’s youth wing – in a hostel in Barcelona while there for a Catalonian national day event in September 2016.

He said the teenager had not been asleep, but he and others in the dormitory had been awake chatting. He said he had only “given a cuddle” to the teenager before going back to his bunk and going to sleep.

He admitted that after a Pride march in Dundee in 2019, he had followed another 18-year-old into the bathroom of a flat where an afterparty was taking place, and locked the door. He said he had thought the man was interested in him.

He said: “I asked for a kiss, he told me no, and I was mortified”.

He admitted “loudly” making jokes about another man’s Calvin Klein underpants at the same event, but denied trying to pull down his trousers.

He told his lawyer: “I’ve never sought non-consensual sexual relations – if they tell me no, it means no.”

Linden became an SNP councillor for the Bellshill ward during the 2017 local elections.

He was elected leader of North Lanarkshire Council in May 2022 but resigned from the post a few weeks later when allegations against him emerged.

Cross-examining, prosecutor Alistair McDermid asked: “Did you use your seniority as a way to make sure these people didn’t speak up about what you were doing?”

Linden replied: “I was not doing anything to them. I was engaging in a friendship with individuals, and no, I did not use my position at any time. These were people who were my friends. People that I trusted, and people who, unfortunately, have broken that trust.

Mr McDermid said: “And you say now, of all these people who were your friends and you trusted, 12 of them have now turned on you.”

Linden replied: “That would certainly appear to be the case.”

Earlier, at the close of the Crown case, Mr McDermid withdrew a further six of the charges against Linden – five alleging a course of conduct causing fear or alarm and one of statutory breach of the peace.

He continues to face six charges of sexual assault, five of causing fear or alarm and four of indecent communication.

The trial, before Sheriff Christopher Shead and jury, continues.