Alex Salmond impersonated a zombie before sexually assaulting an SNP worker, a jury has been told.
The alleged incident is said to have happened one evening at Bute House in Edinburgh in September 2014, the month of the Scottish independence referendum.
Salmond faces 14 charges of alleged offences against 10 women, all of which he denies.
The court heard that the former first minister of Scotland was working on a high-pressure situation while on the floor facing the complainer, known as Woman J.
She told the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday the 65-year-old then told her to stand up as he did and asked her if she had seen “that zombie movie where they do this”.
Woman J said: “He just took a couple of steps with his arms outstretched.
“He puts his arms on my shoulders and leaned in to kiss me on my cheek and then proceeded to move my shoulders to kiss my other cheek and then leaned in to kiss my lips.”
The court heard she managed to break free from the accused, who she said then acted like “nothing had happened”.
She added: “I remember thinking that I was glad that his reaction wasn’t angry.”
Shelagh McCall QC, representing Salmond, put it to the witness that the incident never took place, which she denied.
The woman said she was in “complete shock” after the incident and had felt scared.
She told the court: “I was in complete shock, I didn’t really understand what was happening.”
Asked if she was frightened, she said “yes”.
The party worker also told jurors the pair went into his study to do some work where she complained it was cold.
She claimed the former first minister then told her she should be wearing tights, to which she replied she was.
It was heard he then briefly touched her leg above her knee, while jurors were later told he made a remark about her face before touching her nose for a moment.
Ms McCall put it to the complainer this behaviour had been “inappropriate”, which she agreed.
Earlier, a former civil servant in the Scottish Government told the court she felt “mortified” and “demeaned” after Salmond grabbed her buttocks during a photograph.
She said the pair had been posing for a photo at an event in 2014 when Salmond grabbed her “forcibly”.
The woman, known as Woman K, said she had been shocked but did not want to make a scene while the photo was being taken.
She added: “I think my heart stopped, my adrenalin started pumping a bit.
“It made me just mortified. I just wanted to do my job, I wanted to be proud of myself coming in and doing my job and it felt like I was demeaned, that it was unprofessional, that there was nothing I could do about it.”
The woman told the court it was not an accident but “very deliberate”. She added: “I can see how hands might brush past places but this was very deliberate.”
Gordon Jackson QC, also representing Salmond, put it to Woman K that the incident was not sexual but had instead been about “power”, which she had previously said in a police interview.
Civil servant afraid complaining could do damage to her career
A civil servant told the court she felt “pretty humiliated” by Alex Salmond touching her bottom.
The witness, referred to as Woman D who spent part of career working with the former first minister, said there were occasions when she walked with the politician.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC asked if anything happened that caused her some concern.
She said: “Sometimes, not all the time. Sometimes when walking with the first minister he would offer me his arm and it was quite hard not to take it.
“From time to time he would encourage me to go in front of him.”
“At times he would place his hand on my back. He would place his hand lower down on my bottom,” she said.
She told the court: “It made me feel extremely uncomfortable.”
The woman said it had happened more than 10 times. She said she had not encouraged or agreed to the former first minister touching her bottom. She said he would also touch her hair, face and arm.
Mr Prentice asked if she put up with it and she replied: “Yes, I suppose so.”
When the prosecutor asked her why, she said: “He was the leader of the country. I really liked my job and valued my job.” The woman said that she felt if she made a formal complaint it would be “my word against his and I was really concerned it would damage my career”.
She said she found the touching of her hair “weird” and a very demeaning experience.
The woman said that during an overseas trip she was in a hotel lift with the former first minister and another civil servant when Mr Salmond reached over to touch her face before her senior colleague intervened.
The civil servant said her colleague said “something along the lines of ‘what do you think you are doing?”
The woman said: “I was utterly aghast and shocked.”
