A BUSINESSWOMAN told jurors today that she did not recall seeing the complainant who has accused Alex Salmond of trying to rape her at any point on the evening that the alleged assault is said to have taken place.

The former Scottish government official, known as Woman H, told the High Court in Edinburgh that the incident took place at Bute House in Edinburgh following a dinner in June 2014.

Mr Salmond denies the alleged incident at the first minister’s official residence happened, saying that the woman was not there on the night in question. On Tuesday he admitted that he had a “consensual sexual liaison” with Woman H the previous year.

The defence witness, a company director, told the court that she was at the dinner with Mr Salmond and another guest.

When Alex Prentice QC, for the prosecution, suggested the complainant had been at the dinner, the witness replied: “I understand the police put that to me and I absolutely have no recollection of seeing [her] on that night.”

The court also heard from Mr Salmond’s former principal private secretary, who described working with him as a “privilege and a penance.” Karen Watt, who held the post between 2009 and 2012, said he had been an exacting politician “at the top of his game.”

The former first minister is accused of a total of 13 sexual offences against nine women spanning a period between June 2008 and November 2014, all of which he denies.

Mr Salmond’s lawyers previously lodged special defences of consent and alibi.

The trial, before judge Lady Leeona Dorrian, continues.