Victims of SNP sex predator: We were called liars...the Youth Parliament MUST be investigated
Three victims of SNP sex predator Jordan Linden have called for a full-scale probe into the Scottish Youth Parliament after it dismissed them as liars more than a decade ago.
One survivor likened it to the dystopian world of The Hunger Games films, where children are forced to fight to the death.
In an exclusive interview, the brave trio vowed to write to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) detailing their concerns.
One victim, who we are calling Stephen, said: ‘Given the Scottish Youth Parliament is a charity, OSCR is the best place to do this. They have to urgently look at the organisation.’
The men argue that the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP), which is supposed to nurture young people and encourage them to advocate on youth issues in Scotland, is not fit for purpose and is still a risk to youngsters given the wide age range of its membership.
One victim sent sexual images and messages by Linden when he was just 15, told of underage drinking, sex and wild parties during gatherings of the SYP’s 130-odd members, which took place several times a year and were supposed to be supervised by adults.
Jordan Linden, former SNP North Lanarkshire Council leader, is now a convicted sex offender
The Scottish Youth Parliament was founded in 1999 and admits members aged 14-25
The 28-year-old man, who we are calling James, said: ‘For someone like Jordan, the sittings were like a hunting ground, as there were a lot of young boys. There was definitely under-age drinking, definitely sex, definitely parties that shouldn’t have been happening.’
James said he was concerned that the SYP still presents a risk to vulnerable young people as it still allows children as young as 14 to socialise and interact with adults up to the age of 25.
He said: ‘I don’t know what 14-year-olds and 25-year-olds have in common. The age gap is so big. It’s not that there shouldn’t be representation, but we certainly all should not have been in the same hotels.’
Fellow victim Stephen was sexually assaulted by Linden in September 2015 while he was on a trip to Edinburgh to speak to UN youth representatives.
He was 17 at the time while Linden was 19. The pair had been booked in to a double hotel room by blundering SYP chiefs.
Stephen, 28, said he woke to find Linden stroking his leg and breathing heavily behind him, leaving him frozen in fear.
Despite being heterosexual, he had been bombarded with sexual images and messages from Linden for months before the attack. He said: ‘The SYP is like the Hunger Games – putting kids into a pressure cooker environment and then being surprised when everything blows up. It’s absolutely not fit for purpose, and I think, deep down, they know that as well.
‘The whole place needs to be gone. There has to be an inquiry into how this was able to happen, and why we were not believed.’
Stephen and several of his peers raised concerns about Linden with the SYP’s chief executive, Ben McKendrick, in 2016 while Linden was chairman of the organisation.
Ben McKendrick was the Chief Executive of the Scottish Youth Parliament when Linden committed his crimes
Mr McKendrick left the SYP in 2023 and is now a clerk in the Scottish Parliament.
Instead of being taken seriously, the men found themselves being investigated by a private law firm, brought in by Mr McKendrick, for allegedly sharing images of Linden amongst themselves when they were trying to collate evidence.
Asked in court if he would again order a private probe rather than inform police or social services, Mr McKendrick said he would.
He said the investigation had only made one recommendation about Linden, that he was ‘on occasion, putting himself a situation where he was open to criticism, being overly familiar, perhaps’ and said ‘nothing would require reporting to authorities under the Child Protection Policy.’
Mr McKendrick also told jurors there had been ‘a lot of hugging and kissing going on among the membership’ while he was in charge.
Stephen said: ‘There needs to be some sort of inquiry – whether it can be part of an existing one, or something else that will look in depth at what has gone wrong here – because there are so many unanswered questions about why this was able to happen. Those who enabled Jordan, like Ben McKendrick, have to be held accountable and I don’t see how that can happen under the existing mechanisms.’
A third man, who we are calling Mike, joined the SYP at the same time as Linden in 2011. He said that within a month he was being tickled and touched by Linden in front of local authority youth workers, who dismissed the behaviour as ‘just Jordan’.
The 30-year-old said he had told both Linden and the youth workers he was uncomfortable with the behaviour but it didn’t stop. It progressed to Linden sexually assaulting him and sending him images of his genitals.
Mike said: ‘When this was first reported way back in 2011 not just by me but others, it could have been stopped there. It could have prevented him getting in a position of power where he used that influence to harass and abuse young men.
‘The thing that really concerns me is that it’s the same people – the youth workers in local authorities, the staff at the Scottish Youth Parliament – who are still responsible for child protection. How can they be trusted?’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: ‘Wherever this happens, there must be an independent and unflinching investigation into the culture and failings of the youth parliament in relation to child protection. This must also ask the necessary questions about the SNP’s role in apparently covering up these crimes.’
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said it was clear that the SYP ’failed in its duty to safeguard those taking part’. The SYP said that an independent review of its safeguarding arrangements, commissioned in the wake of the allegations, found that its child protection policies ‘fully complied with national guidelines and legislation’.
