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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Hannah Rodger

SNP ditch investigation into notorious sex pest as he’s now quit the party

The SNP have ditched their investigation into a notorious sex pest because he’s now quit the party.

Jordan Linden will escape questioning into claims he sexually assaulted and harassed a fellow councillor for seven years.

The Sunday Mail revealed the complaint against the 29-year-old last month which prompted him to quit politics and give up his SNP membership.

The victim was told last week that the investigation into Jordan had been dropped (North Lanarkshire Council)

But it means the SNP - who have previously been mired in controversy over failures to tackle sex abuse allegations - have dropped their probe.

The alleged victim said: “I feel that it’s unfair that I’ve had to suffer for years from this, and more recently since August but yet the perpetrator - Jordan Linden- gets to walk away from the party and carry on as if nothing happened. It’s not good enough.”

The victim was told in a meeting last week that the long awaited investigation wouldn’t be going ahead.

The man, who is a serving SNP councillor, claims he was assaulted by Linden while on an SNP youth trip to Barcelona in 2016 and was harassed by him while they were both councillors in North Lanarkshire.

It was the third time claims of sexually inappropriate behaviour had been made against him with the first dating back to 2015 while he was the head of the Scottish Youth Parliament.

The second incident took place in Dundee in 2019 where Linden admitted he had made a young SNP member feel uncomfortable and apologised.

It is claimed he groped the man while drunk and in a room alone with him during a gay pride party.

As a result of abandoning his membership the party’s National Secretary Lorna Finn told the latest complainant that no action can be taken against Linden or the allegations investigated.

But she has agreed to review the leadership of the party in North Lanarkshire after civil war broke out last month over claims Linden’s successor failed to act when she was told about the latest assault claim.

The alleged victim said he had informed Tracy Carragher, the council’s SNP group leader, last August about the assault in Barcelona but claimed she dismissed him.

Seven of his colleagues resigned from 32 council committee seats in solidarity with the man and have called for Carragher’s suspension.

Carragher has denied she knew anything about the assault claims and has now accused those who called for her suspension of bringing the party into disrepute.

Tracey Carragher SNP (Freelance)

An email she sent to SNP HQ last month states: “You are already aware of mass resignation of committee membership on the evening of 28th March...These members collectively fill 32 committee places.

“These councillors have publicly brought out group and in turn our party into disrepute.

“Given the seriousness of this matter I would respectfully ask for an urgent response.”

An SNP spokesman said: “The National Secretary has made every effort to listen to the member concerned and has registered their complaint, although the allegation is against an individual who is no longer a member of the SNP.”

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