THE former SNP childcare minister Mark McDonald is to be banned from Holyrood for a month without pay after sexually harassing a female worker.

It is the toughest sanction handed down by the Scottish Parliament since 2005, when four Scottish Socialist MSPs were banned for a month for a protest in the main chamber.

An official investigation found Mr McDonald, 38, who is now the £62,000-a-year Independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside, twice broke the MSPs code of conduct.

The Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life said that beside sexual harassment, Mr McDonald was guilty of wrongdoing on a financial matter.

It is understood the MSP borrowed almost £500 from a staff member for three weeks.

READ MORE: Sex row minister quits SNP after admitting misconduct

After receiving the report, Holyrood’s standards committee unanimously recommended Mr McDonald be excluded from parliamentary business and the Holyrood estate for a month.

It also recommended withdrawing his salary for a month to coincide with the exclusion, which will cover a period when parliament is sitting - not the summer recess.

The committee also said Mr McDonald’s “rights to any representational, ceremonial and related privileges” should be withdrawn for the remainder of the parliament, until 2021.

The sanction must now be confirmed by a vote of parliament as a whole next week, however it is expected to go through with overwhelming support.

The investigation was sparked by a complaint in March from James Dornan, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, who claimed his aide was “a targeted victim of harassment and sexual innuendo", leading to her collapse and absence from work.

Mr Dornan said Holyrood has a “duty of care” towards to consider: “Something must be done to ensure her and others safety, and that her well-being and mental health is protected.”

READ MORE: Mark McDonald defends Holyrood return but stays silent on his offences

Committee convener Clare Haughey said after the complaint was made, the Commissioner “was made aware of Mark McDonald’s conduct towards another staff member”.

She said the committee agreed with the finding that “Mark McDonald failed to treat one witness with respect, and that his conduct towards her involved sexual harassment, and that he also failed to treat a second witness with respect in relation to a financial matter.

“The Committee agrees with the Commissioner’s finding that both behaviours were in breach of the Code of Conduct for MSPs. The Committee considers that the breaches justify the imposition of sanctions on Mark McDonald.”

She said the committee had looked at the “full range of sanctions” available, and agreed the punishment should “send a clear signal about the seriousness” of his misconduct.

Ms Haughey said “sexist behaviour and sexual harassment” did not belong in the parliament.

She also complained that there had been repeated leaks to the media about the case.

Exclusion from parliamentary proceedings covers taking part in debates and committees, and lodging motions, questions, bills or amendments.

Ceremonial exclusion means representing the parliament in any formal capacity, including meeting external bodies and delegations.

The full Commissioner’s report into Mr McDonald is due out this afternoon.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon urges sex row minister Mark McDonald to quit Holyrood

In February, it was reported the married father-of-two sent Twitter direct messages to a woman who had spurned his approaches that included a reference to being “fingered”.

One read: “Cuts me deep”. The next said: “That’s twice you’ve dingyed me now. Twice. It’s ok tho I understand,” followed by sad emojis.

A third message said: “My phone wanted to autocorrect dingyed to fingered there which I’m so glad I noticed before I sent that message,” followed by a red-faced emoji.

It is understood the Commissioner concluded: “The messages contained sexual innuendo with the notion of Witness A ‘fingering’ the respondent. His conduct involved sexual harassment.”

However it is understood the Commissioner also cleared the MSP of stalking Mr Dornan’s assistant.

Mr McDonald resigned as a minister on November 4 after admitting inappropriate behaviour, which he initially tried to downplay as a misguided attempt at humour.

Nicola Sturgeon also downplayed Mr McDonald’s comments at first, saying his behaviour was “of a kind “that some others may well have thought was not serious enough to resign”.

The First Minister said at the time: “He's a good MSP and he will continue to be so."

However a week later Mr McDonald admitted his action had caused “considerable distress and upset”, and on November 16 the SNP suspended him and launched an investigation.

Mr McDonald stopped attending Holyrood, although he maintained his constituency office.

READ MORE: MSP makes formal complaint over Mark McDonald’s Holyrood return​

When the SNP probe concluded in early March, it said he had deliberately and persistently pestered two women with “inappropriate and unwanted” messages, paid them “unwanted attention causing distress”, and was guilty of “exploiting his position of power”.

Mr McDonald quit the SNP the day before the verdict was made public, and returned to Holyrood, defending his presence on the grounds his conduct did not amount to a crime.

His decision to sit as an Independent means he stands to collect around £200,000 in wages before the next Holyrood election.

He has already received an automatic £7000 golden goodbye for leaving ministerial office.

Ms Sturgeon, despite initially saying Mr McDonald would remain a “good MSP”, has since called on him to resign from parliament, creating a by-election.

The First Minister's office said she agreed with the committee's decision.

Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said: "The people of Aberdeen Donside have already endured four months with an absent MSP after his self-imposed exile. This unprecedented sanction means they will go unrepresented in parliament once more.

"That’s simply not good enough. Mark McDonald ought to reflect on his position and resign. 

“What we need is a clearly defined system of recall with real consequences for politicians whose misconduct is proven, and where the final decision about whether someone is fit to be a parliamentary representative rests with the people who put them there.”

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant added: "Mark McDonald’s behaviour has been well below that expected of anyone, let alone an MSP.

“It is clear to everyone except him that he is totally unfit to represent the people of Donside.

“Anyone with an ounce of decency in his position would do the right thing and immediately resign as an MSP.”

Mr McDonald said he accepted the Commissioner’s main findings, and apologised for his faults, but disputed that his “inappropriate” message constituted sexual harassment.

He said: “The Commissioner’s report has disproved or disregarded the overwhelming majority of Mr Dornan’s complaint.

"The manner in which Mr Dornan chose to publicise his complaint, and make lurid allegations against me, has had a significant and lasting impact upon my personal mental health and wellbeing, and has thus affected my family. I am grateful that these allegations have not been upheld, as I have always denied them.”

Indicating he would not resign, he said he would continue to represent his constituents.