Alex Salmond has accused the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of lying in a row over a probe into the leak of a government investigation into sexual harassment claims made against him.

The attack on the prosecutors came as Police Scotland confirmed their investigation had ended with no action being taken.

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The inquiry, codenamed Operation Newbiggin, related to details of a Scottish Government’s probe into the former first minister being shared with the Daily Record in 2018.

The paper revealed that two female civil servants had made complaints against the one-time SNP leader.

Mr Salmond later challenged the Scottish Government’s probe in a judicial review action at the Court of Session, and proved it had been unlawful and unfair.

The court ruled that it had been “tainted by apparent bias” after it emerged the senior civil servant responsible for looking into the claims had been in prior contact with his accusers, contaminating the entire investigation.

SNP ministers subsequently had to pay Mr Salmond £512,000 in legal costs.

A Police Scotland spokesperson told the Daily Record that their enquiries into the leak were “now complete and no further action is being taken.”

The Crown Office told the paper that they had not received a report.

Taking to X, the site formerly known as Twitter, Mr Salmond said that was “yet another lie.”

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He tweeted: “The police have confirmed that they submitted reports to COPFS on Newbiggin before and after Christmas.

“Nor is there any doubt that a criminal leak took place. That’s the basis of the two year investigation. The question is ‘whodunnit’.

"Here’s an interesting paradox. The police can’t find out in a criminal inquiry in two years, what much of Scotland’s social media have known for five.

“This latest Crown Office blunder underlines that they are an organisation unfit for purpose and any root & branch reform of criminal justice in Scotland should not start with an attack on juries but in putting a proper distance between the Govt and the prosecutorial service.”

A spokesperson for the COPFS said: “It is standard practice that any case regarding politicians is dealt with by prosecutors without the involvement of the Law Officers. All Scotland’s prosecutors act independently of political interference.

“We do not provide details of investigations. However, we confirm when police submit a standard prosecution report (SPR) for the purposes of consideration of a prosecution. No SPR was submitted for this police investigation.”

Last year, Mr Salmond launched a £3m legal action against the Scottish Government over the botched investigation of sexual misconduct claims against him.

He lodged a petition at the Court of Session alleging “misfeasance” by various past and present civil servants.

In 2020, Mr Salmond was cleared by a jury of 14 counts of sexual assault after a two week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

After the court case, a special Holyrood committee was created to look into the Scottish Government’s flawed handling of the misconduct claims made against him by the original two officials.

When he gave evidence to MSPs, Mr Salmond said a group of people close to his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, had plotted against him and ought to lose their jobs.