Linden’s Masked Guardian: Not Alone

The first encounter was a chilling prelude. A masked figure sprinted towards me, only a narrow slit revealing menacing dark eyes. As he closed in, gloved hands emerged from his hoodie pockets. I scrambled into my car and sped off, his fists hammering against the rear of the vehicle. This was my introduction to the lengths some would go to shield Jordan Linden, the former SNP council leader who has since been convicted of a string of horrific sex abuses.

My visit to Bellshill in Lanarkshire on September 16, 2023, was intended to confront Linden about allegations of harassment and assault against young men and boys during his tenure with the SNP and the Scottish Youth Parliament. Expecting a door slammed in my face, I was instead met by Linden’s then-boyfriend, who answered the door with a snarl. He claimed Linden had moved out, despite the predator himself being visible in an upstairs window, attempting to hide from me and my photographer. Upon introducing myself, he swore and shut the door.

Moments later, while I sat in the car, he stormed over, screaming for us to stop taking pictures. He issued a veiled threat, warning us to “p*** off” or he’d “send someone.” When I questioned if it was a threat, he huffily retreated. Approximately ten minutes later, my photographer alerted me to a hooded young man approaching from the far end of the estate. “Watch him,” he advised. Initially, the distance and direction seemed insignificant. However, as the figure drew nearer, the black gloves, the tightly drawn hood, and a scarf obscuring his neck sent a prickle of unease down my spine. Just as I prepared to re-enter the car, he looked up, pulled the scarf over his nose, leaving only his eyes visible, and sprinted directly towards us. My heart pounded as I leapt back into the car, my photographer navigating a nearby roundabout with white knuckles, praying we wouldn’t crash. The man struck the side of the car as we made our escape. This was my first taste of the elaborate efforts to protect Linden.

Over the subsequent three years, I would discover this was not an isolated incident. My first inkling of Linden’s alleged predatory behaviour surfaced in early July 2022. A friend mentioned an incident in Dundee involving the then-new SNP leader of North Lanarkshire Council and a young SNP activist some years prior. Through a victim’s testimony, we learned Linden had allegedly locked the man in a bathroom, attempted to kiss him, and demanded he urinate in front of him – a clear sexual assault. Inquiries within the SNP revealed the party had been alerted to their rising star’s behaviour in 2019, yet no apparent action was taken. The only trace of trouble was Linden quietly withdrawing his ambition to stand as an MP shortly after the alleged incident. I approached the SNP, detailing the incident, its date, and the fact that their ‘compliance officer’, Ian McCann, had been informed without result. The response was stark: “No complaint was lodged.” It later emerged the party’s definition of a complaint was one they themselves deemed worthy, a convenient loophole for the party machine.

My editor, demonstrating considerable bravery, authorised the publication of the story with the available evidence. This act opened the floodgates. Linden resigned as council leader within three days, though he remained an SNP councillor. Almost immediately after the story broke, SNP spin doctors were reportedly briefing colleagues in the media industry, branding my reporting as inaccurate and hinting at a potential complaint to the press regulator, IPSO. In the days that followed, several young men, some of whom would later testify at Linden’s trial, contacted me. They detailed their own experiences of abuse by Linden during their time in the Scottish Youth Parliament. The accounts were staggering. These teenagers had reportedly raised their concerns with Youth Parliament staff, only to be dismissed as liars and their experiences labelled as teenage gossip. Astonishingly, taxpayer funds were allegedly spent on an investigation into the complainants, not Linden, by a private law firm. Linden subsequently used this “sham probe” to claim he had been “cleared” of any wrongdoing.

I engaged with all the men who came forward, continuing to report on my findings. This included exposing the SNP’s repeated warnings about Linden and their inexplicable decision to continue promoting him. The SNP consistently dismissed my reporting, eventually ceasing all communication and ignoring my requests for comment, mirroring their earlier dismissal of those who tried to warn them about Linden’s character. A year later, in March 2023, a group of SNP North Lanarkshire councillors reached out with another distressing account. One of their own, Cameron McManus, alleged he had been a victim of Linden. He recounted how his fears about Linden were raised with the SNP’s group leader, Tracy Carragher, but, similar to the Youth Parliament victims, the organisation allegedly turned on him. Colleagues who supported McManus also faced disciplinary action. Ultimately, they all departed the SNP, forming a new party and later becoming independent councillors. Following my report on Cameron’s experience, Linden finally exited politics entirely, likely hoping to escape scrutiny of his past behaviour. Cameron, waiving his right to anonymity, took the courageous step of reporting his allegations to the police in late March 2023. Without his bravery, Linden’s conviction would likely not have occurred.

Following his initial report, police contacted me to inquire about the willingness of the men I had written about to speak with them. Some, though not all, agreed. Many more alleged victims, whose names I had never encountered, emerged as part of Linden’s extensive list of charges when he finally appeared in court in January of this year, having been arrested nearly two years prior in February 2024. The police, to their credit, conducted a thorough investigation. Prosecutor Alistair McDermid effectively presented Linden as a malicious predator whose behaviour escalated in tandem with his rapid ascent in Scottish politics. While this entire ordeal has been a lengthy, emotionally taxing, and stressful experience for me, it pales in comparison to the suffering endured by Linden’s victims, who have waited as long as 15 years for justice. They have navigated years of pain and frustration. Yet, upon hearing the guilty verdict last week, one man simply expressed, “Thank you for believing me.”