A former Dunfermline SNP MSP jailed for offences against his ex-wives has published the second instalment of memoirs detailing what he calls a “vendetta” against him.
In his latest book, former MSP Bill Walker sets out his early ventures in politics from 1971 onwards, his time as a councillor and short-spell as an MSP.
It includes his views on the replacement Queensferry Crossing and his opposition to marriage equality for LGBT Scots.
The book also goes into what happened in the run-up to his court case.
Bill Walker was jailed for 12 months in 2013 after being convicted of a string of attacks against his three former wives and a stepdaughter.
It became one of the biggest scandals to hit Holyrood and the SNP.
Walker, now aged 83, gave one wife a black eye by punching her in the face shortly before their wedding in January 1967.
He assaulted his second wife around 15 times and brandished an air rifle at her home.
He went on to carry out four assaults against third wife between June 1988 and January 1995.
Walker was also found guilty of assaulting Mrs Gruber’s daughter Anne Louise Paterson by repeatedly striking her on the head with a saucepan in 1978 – claiming he had acted in self-defence.
Walker attempted to cling on to his seat at Holyrood for 13 days after his conviction, prompting an outcry from campaign groups and fellow MSPs. Branded “shameless”, he eventually quit.
In his latest self-published book, Walker sets out the initial signs of trouble after he was told of the complaint.
And he repeats allegations – first made public in 2012 – that the SNP had been aware of issues raised against him in 2008 by a relative with a “vendetta” but “improperly” did nothing for three years.
Details of this was passed to SNP HQ, but he was not asked to respond until 2011 when the matter was raised by party compliance officer Ian McCann.
“Ian [McCann] had no explanation at all about the ‘delay’ in showing me it, although it had been discussed amongst a close group near the top of the party,” he writes.
“Had the SNP head office hierarchy passed on to me the complaint report, rather than improperly holding on to it secretly from February 2008, the chain of future political and judicial developments would have been completely different.”
The book stops short of the crucial period after he was contacted by the Sunday Herald newspaper in March 2012.
Third instalment
Instead, Walker will publish his memoirs covering the period when he was publicly unmasked as a serial domestic abuser in the third instalment.
The former MSP has always maintained his innocence. Sentencing him to prison in 2013, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie said Mr Walker was in “extreme denial” and completely remorseless.
Writing in his latest book, he says he wants to tell his story free from “media filtering”.
An SNP source dismissed Walker’s attempt to criticise the SNP, saying: “In over 1,000 pages the one thing Bill Walker doesn’t do is apologise to the women he hurt. He alone is responsible for his actions.”
An SNP spokeswoman said: “Bill Walker was convicted and jailed by a court for a series of domestic abuse offences.
“He was expelled by the SNP when it was apparent he had lied to the party in his application to be a parliamentary candidate.”
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