LONDON: Former British ambassador Craig Murray handed himself in to UK police on Sunday to serve an eight-month prison term for contempt of court after his appeal was rejected.

Murray, formerly ambassador to Uzbekistan, was convicted in May over blogs and tweets about the sexual assault trial of Scotland's former first minister Alex Salmond.

The 62-year-old hugged his family members and supporters, who sang "Auld Lang Syne" outside a police station in Edinburgh as he arrived to begin his sentence.

In a statement released by supporters, he said that "I go to jail with a clean conscience."

Former UK ambassador jailed over Salmond trial blogs

He was convicted after a judge ruled that, put together, his posts made it possible to identify four women who were witnesses at Salmond's trial last year, breaking Scottish law. The UK Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.

The blog posts and tweets had remained online despite Murray having been warned of the risk of the women being identified.

Salmond was acquitted of all 13 charges of sexual assault.

Murray's supporters have described him as a "political prisoner" and have likened his case to that of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.