Nicola Sturgeon: "I will be absolutely adamant that I did not intervene in this process."

Nicola Sturgeon's faced questions from her Holyrood rivals after the Scottish Government was forced to settle a legal case brought by former first minister Alex Salmond over the handling of sexual misconduct allegations against him.

After it emerged the person appointed to investigate the complaints had had prior contact with the two women who had made them, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled the Scottish Government's actions were "unlawful in respect that they were procedurally unfair and that they were tainted with apparent bias''.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw - Carlaw insisted that the First Minister had become involved in the complaints process against her predecessor, after meeting with him three times and discussing the issue in two phone calls with him.

The Conservative told Ms Sturgeon: "Discussing the case with the subject of the investigation on five separate occasions is surely getting involved, isn't it?''

Mr Carlaw argued: "Meeting the subject of a complaint is getting involved in my book, First Minister, and I am surprised that you don't appreciate that as well.''

The First Minister said the discussions between her and Mr Salmond on the matter were not Scottish Government business, but party business.

Commenting on this, Mr Carlaw said: "Her position appears to be a meeting between the First Minister of the government and the former first minister of the government, about a government investigation, involving two government employees was not government business. Really, how?''

After he pressed the SNP leader on whether others were present at the meetings, Ms Sturgeon revealed her chief of staff Liz Lloyd accompanied her at the first one, adding that Mr Salmond was also represented.

Ms Sturgeon stressed: "Of course, my chief of staff is a special adviser who also has the ability to assist me in party matters.''

Ms Sturgeon added: "The fact that I had no role in the Government process is why it wouldn't have been appropriate for the meetings to be government meetings.

"I have responsibilities as party leader, as other leaders do.''

She insisted to MSPs: "I acted appropriately. I absolutely accept there are others who think I made wrong judgements along the way, and that is absolutely their entitlement.

"But I made the judgements that I made, I will stand by and defend those judgements, and I will be absolutely adamant that I did not intervene in this process and it would have been entirely inappropriate for me to have done so.''

The First Minister added: "Since I found out about the investigation I have tried to do the right thing in a situation which, no matter what happened, was never going to be easy for me.

"The most important thing here has always been, and continues to be, the complaints that were made and the people who made those complaints.'