A new video has emerged appearing to show police officers trying to stop a man from filming a motorhome which was seized amid a probe into the SNP’s finances.
The Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome was taken from a house in Dunfermline at the same time police searched the home of Nicola Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Murrell.
The same model of campervan can sell for around £110,000, and is believed to have been seized from the home of Sturgeon’s mother-in-law.
It was spotted at a police depot in Glasgow by David Cardwell on Tuesday.
He told STV News that he had shouted across to the driver, asking whether it was the same motorhome – and the driver had responded by nodding that it was.
It is not illegal in Scotland to take photographs or video footage in public places, and police generally cannot stop someone from doing so unless they consider it is for criminal or terrorist purposes.
STV NewsHowever, when Mr Cardwell tried to film the campervan on his phone, he says he was approached by two men in plain clothes who told him they were police.
Mr Cardwell said himself and his friend, Gary Barton, were standing outside the facility’s perimeter when they were approached by the officers.
One of them can be heard on the recording telling Mr Cardwell that the depot was a “restricted building – a police building – and you can’t take photographs here”.
Mr Cardwell, recording, asked about where the signposts were identifying it as a restricted building.
He also asked the man for identification proving he was a police officer, to which he appears to briefly flash a warrant card – the second officer was displaying his warrant card and showed it to Mr Cardwell.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware of the video and will assess its contents.”
The campervan was reportedly bought as a “battle bus” for the SNP’s Holyrood election campaign in 2021.
Party sources told the Daily Record it would have acted as a “mobile campaign room” if Covid-19 restrictions prevented other forms of mixing, but was never used.
First Minister Humza Yousaf said he learned of the purchase “shortly after” he became leader of the party.
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