Getty ImagesNicola Sturgeon says she was “deceived and let down” by her former husband Peter Murrell, who admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP.
Murrell pled guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday when he appeared for a preliminary hearing carrying a duffle bag.
The estranged husband of the former First Minister embezzled funds from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
The 61-year-old used the money to buy numerous items – including a motorhome and luxury goods – and towards the purchase of two cars.
In January 2025, Sturgeon announced that she and Murrell were ending their marriage “with a heavy heart”.
She insisted she had “no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever” that Murrell was “using SNP funds for personal purposes”.
She said she was “utterly appalled” he had done so, adding that she “could not begin to understand why”.
The former SNP leader said her reaction to her former partner’s guilty plea was “difficult to put into words”.
Posting on Instagram, Ms Sturgeon said she was “angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP”.
The former party leader, who stepped down as an MSP at May’s Holyrood election, said: “To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain.
“Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.”
She continued: “That I was fully cleared after a through investigation underlines that these are not my crimes. I was misled, just as others were.”
She accepted there would be a “political discussion in the light of what has happened” but the former Scottish first minister said that for her this “has also been a profound personal trauma”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I need to remain focused on recovering from that and building a new phase of life. I will be making no further comment.”
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
