MSP Bill Walker pleads not guilty to assault charges
An MSP has pled not guilty to 24 charges of assaulting women over a period of three decades.
Bill Walker, 71, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court accused of physically assaulting four women between January 1967 and January 1995.
The former SNP politician's trial was set for 8 July.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Walker abused the women at addresses in Edinburgh, Stirling, Midlothian and Alloa.
Mr Walker has claimed self defence for three of the charges.
He is alleged to have assaulted Maureen Traquair, Anne Walker, Anne Louise Paterson and Diana Walker.
The independent MSP, who sits for Dunfermline in the Scottish Parliament, denied all charges.
Mr Walker, from Alloa, was elected as an SNP MSP in 2011. He was expelled from the party in April, but has appealed against that decision.