I was in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday morning, less than an hour after the resignation of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work, Derek Mackay.
There was an unusually subdued atmosphere in the building.
I had read the unsettling transcript of messages exchanged between Mr Mackay and a 16-year-old boy, revealing repeated attempts to meet and seeking reassurance regarding the privacy of their dialogue before the MSP described the young man as “really cute”.
It could not have come at a worse time for Mr Mackay.
The story emerged on the day of the budget, which should have been the perfect showcase for his credentials as a future SNP leader and first minister.
Read more from Ewan Gurr here
Nicola Sturgeon confirmed she had accepted Mr Mackay’s resignation and announced his suspension pending further investigation, stating his conduct “fell far short of what is expected of a minister”.
A few years ago, I presided over a very similar situation.
A charity I led received a complaint from a guidance teacher about a married man and father of two in his 40s who, in this case, had been contacting a 17-year-old girl with a similar level of persistence.
Like Derek Mackay, this man was a charismatic, handsome, likeable and successful individual who sought to build a rapport around sport, in this instance, hockey.
The dialogue we observed, however, exhibited predatory behaviour.
Child exploitation expert Dr Rachel O’Connell identifies six stages of grooming in what she describes as “cybersexploitation”.
In her 2003 research, she refers to these as friendship-forming, relationship-forming, risk assessment, the exclusivity stage, sexual stage and, finally, the concluding stage of either damage limitation or the “hit and run” tactic.
I and my colleagues used these as a reference and in this instance, as with Mr Mackay, we are looking at a crossover between stages three and four.
The unusual quirk of our law is that in relation to grooming, a child is viewed as such until the age of 18.
Therefore, having led the investigation, we came to the conclusion that this was clear gross misconduct that merited dismissal and we had no option but to recommend to our charitable partner that it carry out a disciplinary process and dismiss.
On a legal basis, therefore, it is my conclusion that Mr Mackay should not only lose his role in government, but that he should be dismissed as an MSP.
While that is my legal assessment, from a humanitarian perspective, I feel deeply sorry for the young man, his family, the family of Mr Mackay and his partner.
This will be an unpopular opinion for which I will inevitably be derided, especially as further allegations now emerge, but I do hope Mr Mackay himself receives the support he requires and emerges from this as a better person.
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