At least five male MSPs have been contacted by police as potential victims of an alleged secret camera in a Holyrood toilet, it has been reported.
Staff members and a journalist are also said to have been identified on footage said to have been taken by a device in a bathroom next to the main chamber.
The parliament’s authorities confirmed on Friday that officers had been working to ‘identify and contact potential victims’ and sweep the building as part of an investigation.
The Sunday Mail reported the number of MSPs contacted had reached five, equivalent to one in 14 of the male parliamentarians.
The paper said between eight and 10 people had been identified by officers after being captured by a device allegedly hidden in a small two-cubicle toilet off-limits to the public.
A source told the paper: ‘Some MSPs have already been interviewed about it. They had to confirm it was them in the footage.’
It came after South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth was arrested and charged with the possession of indecent images last month.
He also faces allegations of planting a camera in a parliament toilet.
The camera is said to have been hidden in a restricted section of the Holyrood building
Colin Smyth MSP was Labour’s top official from 2008 to 2012
The 52-year-old father-of-two was Scottish Labour’s top official from 2008 to 2012 and entered parliament in 2016. He now sits as an Independent.
The SPCB, the parliament’s cross-party management body, deactivated Mr Smyth’s parliamentary pass on August 28 – eight days after the media first reported the indecent images charge, and 23 days after his arrest.
One MSP said the timeline looked ‘appalling’ for Holyrood bosses.
The said: ‘My staff are extremely concerned about this. They’ve lost confidence in the ability of the chief executive to keep them safe and frankly, to tell the truth without it being forced out of them.’
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone is due to brief party leaders about the situation when MSPs return from the summer recess tomorrow.
She and chief executive David McGill reported on Friday that a recent sweep of the parliament’s toilets, changing facilities, and creche had found no covert devices.
Mr Smyth has denied hiding a camera at Holyrood.
He said on Friday: ‘The allegation has come as an utter shock and one I strongly refute.’
Explaining the timeline for deactivating Mr Smyth’s pass, a Holyrood spokesman said MSPs are ‘not employees’ and so ‘no mechanism exists’ to deny them access to the building immediately.
But the SPCB did take ‘an immediate decision to deactivate the pass’ after receiving recommendations from officials.
The spokesman said: ‘On August 8, Police Scotland made the parliamentary authorities aware of images potentially taken at Holyrood.
‘The identity of the person being investigated was not disclosed to us and to date we have no confirmation that these lines of inquiry relate to Mr Smyth.
‘Any action the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body takes regarding Mr Smyth must be based on verified information.
‘On August 20, the parliamentary authorities became aware of the charges in relation to the possession of indecent images against Mr Smyth when the story appeared in the media.
‘On the recommendation of officials, the SPCB took the decision on August 28 to deactivate Mr Smyth’s parliamentary pass. This decision was in response to Mr Smyth having been charged with the possession of indecent images.’
