PETER MURRELL, FORMER chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP) who embezzled more than £400,000 (€463,000) from the party, has been jailed for more than five years.
Murrell was sentenced to a backdated sentence of five years and three months at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Murrell entered the dock of the court shortly after 9.30am, having arrived in a prison van.
The judge, Lord Young, told Murrell he had committed a “calculated crime of dishonesty”, with a “large number of fraudulent acts over a 12-month period while you were chief executive officer of the SNP”.
He said the offending increased in frequency and amount over time.
He added: “You found yourself unable to stop this offending, and it was only the detection of the crime that brought it to an end.”
Murrell’s lawyer John Scullion KC presented pleas in mitigation.
He told the High Court in Edinburgh: “For many months he has lived in almost total isolation.”
He said his client accepted blame and he had been “ostracised” by his former colleagues.
Scullion said he had become a “figure of public ridicule” as a result of his purchases.
Last month, Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 over a 12-year period between August 2010 and October 2022.
He used the funds to make hundreds of extravagant purchases, including a £124,550 motorhome, cars, jewellery, luxury homewares and designer stationery.
The court previously heard Murrell’s role enabled him to make direct transfers of cash from the party’s main bank account, which held funds from “membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies”.
Murrell also used multiple party “charge cards”, as well as making a number of false expense claims.
He tried to dodge suspicion by giving his purchases “misleading descriptions and/or accounting codes” in the party’s finance system, to which he had direct access.
The court heard a robotic lawnmower, which was purchased by Murrell for £3,070, was misdescribed as “legal fees” in the SNP’s accounting software.
A silver wine coaster worth £3,500 was described as “leadership expenses”.
Murrell’s offending came to light after police began receiving complaints about potential mismanagement of the SNP’s finances in March 2021.
This led to an investigation, during which police uncovered evidence of Murrell’s embezzlement.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife Nicola Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
The former SNP leader said she has been “completely exonerated” after a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation” which saw police officers search the home she and Murrell had shared.
Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which was known as Operation Branchform, but Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.
The case has also led to widespread calls for inquiries into Murrell’s wrongdoing.