Former council leader denies sending sexual images to men and boys

A former SNP council leader has denied sending images of a sexual nature and making sexual advances towards men and boys when he was a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament and later a local councillor.

Jordan Linden, who stood down as leader of North Lanarkshire Council in 2022, is on trial accused of 15 offences involving 12 male complainants, including sexual assault, sexual communication and stalking. He denies all charges.

He claimed that images he sent to others while in bed or a bath were not meant sexually, and were because he was being silly.

The evidence focused on his time on the Scottish Youth Parliament, in which Linden was an elected member between 2011 and early 2016.

Linden, who is now 30, became visibly emotional when he told the court he did send one consensual sexual image to another person.

But he alleges it was then sent on to multiple other people without his consent.

Linden said he felt "betrayed" and "unfairly treated".

He added the initial conversation had been "two way" and "consensual".

When asked by his defence lawyer if he sent photographs to people when he was in the bath or in bed, Linden replied that he had done.

Questioned why he had sent the images, Linden said it was "because I was silly".

He also told the court the images were "not as described" by some of the complainers.

Linden said these pictures were always either from the chest up or knee down, and "always sent to multiple recipients".

The former council leader added he never received any objection to the images "because they [the recipients] were engaging in similar activity".

When asked about making inappropriate contact and sexual advances, Linden also denied this.

He described himself as "a hugger" and said he would hug and kiss the cheeks of many youth parliament colleagues.

But he told the court he was never made aware of any objections.

Asked if he could be blind to visual cues, Linden said he was "not always best" at picking up on them.

Instead, he told the court he "takes people at face value".

Earlier, the court heard from a complainer who claimed he received around 20 missed calls from Linden "a few nights a week for a few weeks" in 2021 before he blocked him.

At the time, the complainer was a teenager and Linden was a local councillor.

Linden also denied a sexual assault allegation, claiming the encounter had been consensual and he and the complainant had remained friends for a period afterwards.

In another incident Linden described being the subject of an investigation into his conduct in 2016, while chair of the youth parliament.

He said he resigned and no blame was apportioned to him.

After the investigation Linden said he cut off all contact with those he had met during that time and felt betrayed by people who were his friends.

Under cross-examination Linden said he believed the allegations "came as a result of media interest" and the images he had sent had been "reinterpreted".

When asked if it was true that all the complainants - with the exception of one - were younger in age than him and junior to him in politics, Linden said: "To many degrees by a matter of a year or two".

Procurator fiscal Alistair McDermid asked Linden if he used his seniority as a way to make sure these people wouldn't "speak up" about "what you were doing to them".

Linden objected to the term and told the court: "I was not doing anything to them, I was engaging in a friendship.

"These people were my friends, people I trusted."

Asked if all 12 people had now turned against him, Linden said: "That would appear to be the case".

The trial continues.