News / Scotland
The former SNP CEO is scheduled to appear for a narrative hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
Peter Murrell is due to appear in court on Tuesday morning, where more details about how he embezzled hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP will be revealed.
Last week, the former SNP chief executive pled guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party between 2010 and 2022.
Court papers revealed a lengthy list of items he bought with the embezzled money, including a space telescope, DVDs, a home library ladder worth more than £900 and a coffee machine worth nearly £3,232.
Two cars and a £124,550 motorhome were also among the purchases.
A 126-page indictment details hundreds of things Murrell bought using the £400,000 embezzled funds
On Tuesday, more details of Murrell’s embezzlement of the SNP will be revealed at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He won’t be sentenced until June 23 but needs to appear for a narrative hearing because legal teams on both sides had yet to reach an agreement on the “version of events” that took place.
The narrative is the part of a charge (in a complaint or indictment) that sets out the factual circumstances of the offence.
It forms a key part of the process in establishing the pattern of offending and the facts and circumstances around it.
Judge Lord Young will hear the prosecution’s narrative when the case is called.
Murrell, the estranged husband of former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, was remanded in custody following his court appearance last week. He was handcuffed and taken away in a prison van to HMP Edinburgh.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife, 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.
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Sturgeon said Murrell told her a few days before the court hearing that he was going to plead guilty.
Murrell pleaded guilty this week to embezzling the sum of £400,000 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022.
Asked whether he had ever given her an explanation she said: “I haven’t seen him from the point he told me he was going to plead guilty until he pled guilty on Monday, because I wasn’t able to – just emotionally wasn’t able to deal with that.
“So he’s never sat down and given me his account. Now, presumably I will hear his account from the court at some point, but he’s never given me an explanation.”
Sturgeon was Scotland’s first minister from 2014 to 2023 while Murrell served as the SNP chief executive from 2001 to 2023.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to calls for an independent investigation into the SNP’s finances.
Former first minister Lord Jack McConnell has said a joint inquiry by both Holyrood and Westminster committees should examine Murrell’s embezzlement.
Shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie has called on Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee to initiate an inquiry.
However current SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney has said there is no need for such an inquiry, emphasising the detailed nature of the police investigation.
In July 2021, Police Scotland confirmed that detectives were investigating the party’s finances after seven complaints were made around donations to the SNP.
The probe cast a shadow over the party for several years and Sturgeon stunned the political world by suddenly announcing her resignation as First Minister on February 15, 2023.
Sturgeon, 54, and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie, 73, were arrested and questioned as part of the investigation in June 2023 but were released without charge.
Operation Branchform concluded in March last year when police confirmed that Sturgeon and Beattie would face no further action.
Sturgeon said she had been “vindicated” and that there was “never a scrap of evidence” against her.
Murrell’s purchases ranged from Andrex toilet paper to a £124,000 motorhome.
He bought gaming consoles, games, DVD box sets and books, men and women’s clothing, luxury kitchen utensils, fancy glassware, gardening gear, power tools, Chinese curry sauce paste, shortbread and shoes.
In the days after losing the independence referendum, he bought Fifa 15 Ultimate Edition for the PS4.
He bought £12,000 worth of Apple products. He spent thousands on Montblanc pens – including £3,000 on John F Kennedy and Beatles special editions.
He bought thousands of pounds worth of Le Creuset products, he spent more than a grand on mug warmers, he bought Lalique Feuilles salt and pepper grinders worth £2,618, and spent £3,000 on a luxury bone china tea set.
He bought expensive Advent calendars, including two from Fortnum and Mason at £200 each. He spent just over £42,660 on Amazon.
In 2016, he used £16,489 in party funds towards a £33,000 Volkswagen Golf. In 2019, he used £12,042 towards buying an £81,000 Jaguar I-PACE car.
In 2020, Murrell bought a £124,550 Niesmann and Bischoff Smove 7.4e motorhome for his own personal use.
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