The QC acting for Road Sense chairman William Walton suggested at the Supreme Court the SNP leader’s comments in September amounted to “harassment”. The allegations were made at the start of a two-day hearing at the UK’s highest court, in London, which could decide whether the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) is finally constructed.
Aidan O’Neill QC, Mr Walton’s lawyer, read a quotation from Mr Salmond in which the first minister warned Mr Walton that he was “flying against public opinion and making himself one of the most disliked people in this country”.
Mr O’Neill then quoted Article 3.8 of the EU-backed Aarhus Convention which said people pursuing environmental cases “shall not be penalised, persecuted or harassed” in any way. He added: “It is a matter for this court because it is a breach of 3.8.”
It understood Mr O’Neill was poised to ask for Mr Salmond’s remarks to be retracted. But Lord Hope, one of five Supreme Court justices hearing the case, rejected the argument and told him to move on. The hearing continues.
