EXCLUSIVE: Smyth was charged on August 5th and met the group ten days later in the Parliament.
19:00, 01 Sep 2025Updated 19:42, 01 Sep 2025
Colin Smyth(Image: Getty Images)
An MSP met a girl guides group at Holyrood days after he was charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Colin Smyth welcomed the teenage girls to the parliament over a week after the police action.
Police Scotland said Smyth, who was first elected as a Labour MSP nine years ago, had been charged on August 5th.
The Record then revealed on August 28th he had also been charged over a secret camera in a Holyrood toilet.
Parliamentary authorities deactivated his Holyrood pass on the same evening as news broke of the new charges.
However, Smyth was able to access the Parliament for weeks after he was initially charged and he visited Holyrood on August 15th.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar would ‘like to believe’ Holyrood toilets are safe after MSP charged over secret cameraREAD MORE: Labour MSP Colin Smyth “put secret camera in parliament toilet”
A spokeswoman for Girlguiding said: “Girls’ safety and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do in guiding. We are aware that an MSP has been charged by Police Scotland.
“The MSP was present during a visit by Rangers and Young Leaders to the Scottish Parliament in August. Girlguiding has robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place, and no girls were affected.
“We cannot comment further on an ongoing police investigation.”
According to the Girlguiding website, “Rangers” is a category for teenage girls aged between 14 to 18.
Their website states: “Rangers is your space – where you get together with other girls from 14 to 18 to have fun, learn more, give back, hang out, and just be you.”
When asked about visiting Holyrood, Smyth said last week: “This was a request by constituents to visit Parliament that was in the diary for months.”
He did not answer a question on whether the constituents were from a girl guides group.
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “Any visit to Holyrood on 15 August was not part of a Parliament-arranged programme.
“The Parliamentary authorities became aware of the charges in relation to Mr Smyth on 20 August.
“As a live police investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for us to comment any further.”
Speaking to the media, First Minister John Swinney has said he was “absolutely horrified” by allegations of a hidden camera in the Holyrood toilets.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)
The SNP leader said he was “extremely concerned” about the implications for people using the Holyrood building, including MSPs, staff and journalists.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said of the camera claims: “It is deeply distressing and shocking for all of us and for people across the parliamentary estate.”
“As soon as we became aware of the seriousness of the allegations, Colin Smyth was suspended.”
Asked if he believed the Holyrood toilets are safe, he said: “That’s a question for the Scottish Parliament and for Scottish Parliament officials. I would like to believe so because everyone deserves that basic dignity and that basic security at work.”
The Sunday Mail reported that at least five MSPs along with several journalists and staff had been contacted by police over alleged secret toilet recordings in Parliament.
Detectives have begun interviewing people already identified in footage understood to be from a covert camera hidden in a Holyrood cubicle.
MSPs have told the Record they want Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone to make a statement to Holyrood about the camera allegations.
Police did a sweep of the building last week and found no hidden device.
Smyth of the camera allegations last week: “This allegation came as an utter shock and one I strongly refute.
“For legal reasons, I can’t respond to specific matters or speculation, and I appreciate there is a process to go through which I am, of course, fully cooperating with. But I sincerely hope it can be concluded quickly and fairly.
“The speculation, and the recent decision by the police to publicly release details of their ongoing inquiries along with my home address has been devastating and has taken a serious toll on my health.
“After my address was published with no warning to my family, I felt I had no choice but to move away to protect them. That has also meant losing the local NHS critical support I had been receiving for the past few weeks, making an already difficult time even more distressing.
Labour suspended Smyth last month and he currently sits as an independent.
Ash Regan MSP said: “Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but the fact that Colin Smyth hosted a group of girl guides in Parliament nearly two weeks after being arrested and charged with possessing indecent images of children is staggering.”This raises profound safeguarding questions about why decisive measures were not taken immediately. Safeguarding must come before everything else.
“The safety of staff, members, visitors and above all, children, is everyone’s responsibility and must never be compromised. Holyrood must urgently review its procedures to ensure trust is restored and robust protections are in place.”
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