Murrell to be sentenced for stealing SNP funds
Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband is facing jail for stealing more than £400,000 from the SNP over a 12-year period.
Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive, used the funds to make hundreds of extravagant purchases including a £124,550 motorhome, cars, jewellery, luxury homewares and designer stationery. He also falsified accounting records and created fake invoices in an attempt to cover up his crimes.
Last month he admitted to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 over a 12-year period between August 2010 and October 2022.
Murrell’s guilty plea has raised questions about Ms Sturgeon’s insistence that she did not know about her estranged husband’s wrongdoing.
The former Scottish first minister claims she was “deceived, misled and betrayed” by Murrell and that she has been “completely exonerated” following a police investigation into SNP finances which included a search of the home they shared.
The case has also led to widespread calls for inquiries into Murrell’s wrongdoing.
Murrell is currently being held on remand and is expected to arrive at the High Court in Edinburgh in the back of a prison van to be sentenced by judge Lord Young.
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