Peter Murrell jailed after admitting embezzling £400,000 from SNP

Key Points

Peter Murrell has pled guilty to stealing over £400,000 from the SNP
Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband and former SNP chief executive embezzled £400,310.65 from the party over 12 years
He used the cash to ‘bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford’, police said
Judge Lord Young told him actions as SNP chief executive amounted to a gross breach of trust
Murrell was remanded in custody and handcuffed
The case follows a Police Scotland inquiry into SNP finances, known as Operations Branchform, launched in 2021
Murrell was first arrested in April 2023 and charged in 2024, he has previously appeared in court and entered no plea

The SNP’s former chief executive has admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the party.

Peter Murrell pled guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday when he appeared for a preliminary hearing carrying a duffle bag.

Murrell, the estranged husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, 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.

Former First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell on May 7, 2015. Getty Images

Judge Lord Young remanded him in custody and the former SNP boss was handcuffed.

Lord Young told Murrell his actions amounted to a gross breach of trust.

He was originally accused of embezzling £459,049, but this was reduced to £400,310.65.

“Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him”
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston

The indictment stated that in 2020, Murrell used party funds to buy a £124,550 motorhome for his own personal use.

He also used £57,500 of SNP money towards buying an £81,000 Jaguar I-PACE car in 2019, and £16,489 towards a £33,000 Volkswagen Golf bought in early 2016.

Until he stood down in 2023 during the leadership race to succeed Sturgeon as First Minister, Murrell had been chief executive of the SNP for more than 20 years.

Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill told STV News he was surprised at the scale of Murrell crimes describing them as “significant and substantial”.

“But the corruption, if I can put it that way, and the distortion and power abuse at the heart of the SNP doesn’t surprise me,” he added.

“He (Murrell) was always going to be capable of doing that, given that he was doing it for his ‘princess’ (Nicola Sturgeon) that he had always supported throughout his career.

“It’s a further stake in the heart of democracy. It undermines people’s faith in the whole process that we’ve gone through. It should never have happened.

“He will have to be dealt with by the courts firmly. But it is a damage to democracy because people are put in a position of trust and after all a postman goes to prison if he doesn’t deliver letters, and here you have somebody who was the husband of the First Minister, at the heart of the party of government, defrauding that party and damaging Scottish democracy.

“I remember a good friend of mine making the quip, ‘even a bowling club wouldn’t have the chief executive or steward as the wife or husband of the president of the organisation’.

“And here we have the governing party of Scotland and where the chief executive of that party was married to the First Minister.”

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston had oversight of Operation Branchform, Police Scotland’s investigation into the embezzlement.

ACC Houston said: “This was a lengthy and extremely complex case due to the scale of criminality over a 12-year period and the lengths Peter Murrell went to try and cover his tracks.

“I commend the professionalism and absolute dedication of the Operation Branchform team who spent more than four years carrying out extensive enquiries across Europe to unpick Murrell’s offending.

“All of this work, in close partnership with colleagues from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, was carried out under the most intense public scrutiny and it was their commitment to gathering such detailed and compelling evidence that brought us to the High Court today.

“This is without doubt one of the most high-profile investigations in recent times and it is testimony to the work of Police Scotland officers and staff that has led to Peter Murrell’s admission of guilt early in the court process.

“I would also like to thank the many witnesses who came forward to provide us with statements as we built the case against Peter Murrell. Their engagement with us was vital.

“Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him as the Chief Executive of a political party and his position in the wider political establishment in Scotland for many years.

“He abused his privileged position with access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.

“From 2010 to 2022 he spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on luxury goods while carefully trying to hide his criminality with false receipts and accounting.

“He must now face the consequences of his actions.”

What prompted the 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.