DISGRACED former SNP minister Mark McDonald has confirmed his intention to return to Holyrood this week despite growing calls for him to resign as an MSP.

SNP MSP James Dornan will make an official complaint to parliamentary authorities today to try to prevent Mr McDonald’s return, claiming a member of his staff was so distressed by his behaviour that she ended up in hospital.

Mr McDonald resigned from the SNP when it became clear he was no longer welcome in the party, but leader Nicola Sturgeon has urged him to go further and quit parliament to give his constituents the opportunity to elect a new MSP.

The Aberdeen Donside MSP has apologised for sending inappropriate texts to a woman in a “ham-fisted attempt at being friendly” but insists he is not a sex pest.

The woman said his behaviour went beyond a few improper texts and that his decision to continue as an MSP is “a blatant affront to that apology”.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar, who is representing Mr McDonald’s accusers, called the politician’s behaviour “grotesque”.

Mr McDonald insists he was never physically abusive but one woman reportedly told investigators that he squeezed her bottom, despite being warned off, and when dancing he had appeared to stumble and squeezed her chest, according to a summary of the investigation revealed in The Sunday Times.

Mr Dornan told the Sunday Mail: "I saw my member of staff end up in hospital and off work for six months because of the pressure of having to deal with his behaviour and the aftermath.

“If he is such a reformed character like he now claims to be, then he would do the decent thing and consider his position.

“He should certainly never set foot in the Scottish Parliament again and I will be making an official complaint on Monday to the parliamentary authorities to ask for his removal from the parliament to be considered.”

The woman, who spoke to the Sunday Mail anonymously, said: “His behaviour was beyond the pale and had a devastating impact.

“This was more than a few improper texts but a catalogue of attempts to abuse his position of power.

“Mr McDonald claims to be sorry but I see his attempt to return to their place of work as a blatant affront to that apology.”

She added: "The victims in this case are continuously being abused by Mr McDonald’s media campaign and I call for his resignation. Only then will I feel like his apology is real and that my life can move forward.”

Mr Anwar told the Sunday Mail: “His self-denial and desperate media spin is grotesque…if there was a scrap of decency left in this man, then he would have recognised he has been exposed and given up being an MSP, as he did his minister’s post.

“The parliamentary authorities should take every step to ensure that this man never gets through the front door again.

“He has disgraced his position, his party and his family. It’s time he removed himself from public life.”

The Sunday Times published a series of allegations from witnesses that Mr McDonald’s behaviour was “creepy” and amounted to “grooming”. He reportedly made unsolicited and inappropriate comments and made unwanted attempts at physical contact.

He reportedly told an intern in a Facebook message: “You just had the misfortune to end up with an amoral arsehole of an MSP who can’t maintain a professional boundary with an intern who he finds incredibly interesting and attractive.”

Some party figures have privately suggested he has been treated too harshly and argue that other senior politicians whose behaviour has been inappropriate have escaped censure.

As he prepares to return to Holyrood, Holyrood magazine asked Mr McDonald whether anyone should consider him a sex pest.

“I would hope not,” he replied.

“I want to come back and demonstrate, yes to colleagues, yes to constituents, but also to my kids that this wasn’t all that I was. That this wasn’t the sum of me, because otherwise this will be their truth.

“This will be all they will know, because they’ll look and, you know, it’s fair to say that most of the positive things that I’ve accomplished previously have been quietly airbrushed or people are now looking back and saying, you know, well, we thought he was a good guy when he did that but now he’s not.

“I feel an obligation to them to try and demonstrate that you can come back from mistakes that you make and that if you show that you’ve learned from your mistakes, not everybody will accept it, not everybody is, it would be foolish for me to think that people are going to welcome me back with open arms, you know, welcome me back into the fold or anything like that. I know I’ve got to work hard at this and prove myself all over again but I’m determined to do that.”