The scandal-hit former chief executive will not appeal his sentence after embezzling £400,000 from the SNP.
11:17, 04 Jul 2026Updated 11:48, 04 Jul 2026
Peter Murrell’s mugshot(Image: Police Scotland)
Disgraced Peter Murrell will not appeal his jail sentence for embezzling £400,000 from the SNP.
The former chief executive was jailed for more than five years at the High Court in Edinburgh last month after he admitted swiping the cash from his party. The thefts occurred during a 12-year period during his employment and while he was married to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who said she was not aware of his purchases at the time.
Murrell has until next week to impose his sentence, however, his solicitor Matthew McGovern told The Herald that he has decided he will serve his full jail term.
Mr McGovern said: “I can confirm Peter Murrell will not be appealing the sentence imposed by the court.”
The infamous motorhome purchased by Murrell with SNP funds(Image: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service/PA Wire)
The solicitor further told the Herald that Murrell l “wants to accept responsibility for his actions and get on with serving his sentence”. The 61-year-old is currently being held at HMP Dumfries and is said to be doing “okay”.
More than 100 pages of court documents detailed the hundreds of items Murrell bought with SNP funds. Items varied from luxury goods and a £124,550 motorhome to everyday purchases like hand cream and door fixings.
Handing down sentence, Lord Young told Murrell that his crimes were a “calculated act of dishonesty“, representing a significant breach of trust to the SNP, its members and donors. He went on to point out he wanted the sentence to “act as a deterrent to any senior officials and other large organisations who might be tempted” to abuse their position as he had done.
Murrell arriving in a prison van at Edinburgh High Court for sentencing.(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Lord Young told Murrell, who was standing in the dock: “Because of your position of authority, you were able to circumvent the checks and balances that existed. The manner of embezzlement, although not particularly sophisticated, included the fabrication of invoices.
“You gave false information to junior members of staff to input into the accounting system. All told, this was a calculated crime of dishonesty. And let me make it clear to you, one factor in the sentence which I impose today will be to act as a deterrent to any senior officials and other large organisations who might be tempted to abuse their position in the way that you did.”
A Proceeds of Crime hearing is scheduled to take place in Edinburgh in September to calculate and recover the embezzled funds. Murrell’s frozen assets include two Legal and General pension accounts adding up to £613,496, as well as his £88,632 equity share in his marital home.
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