Image: Wikimedia Commons / Peter Murrell in 2014, local normalized asset.- Peter Murrell pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP.
- The admitted offending period was 12 August 2010 to 19 October 2022, while he was the party’s chief executive.
- Nicola Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were cleared by police and have not been charged.
Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party and Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
The plea was entered at the High Court in Edinburgh. BBC Scotland reported that Murrell admitted embezzling £400,310.65 between 12 August 2010 and 19 October 2022. He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 23 June.
What Murrell admitted
Murrell admitted using SNP funds for personal spending, including luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome, according to BBC reporting from the court. The largest single transaction described was a £124,550 luxury motorhome paid for with party funds.
The Guardian reported that Murrell pleaded guilty after a deal with prosecutors reduced the indictment, removing nearly £60,000 in alleged embezzlement from earlier court papers. Earlier reporting had put the accused total at about £459,000; the amount admitted in court is £400,310.65.
His role at the SNP
Murrell was SNP chief executive for more than 20 years, overseeing a period in which the party became dominant in Scottish politics. That role is central to the case because embezzlement in Scots law involves dishonest appropriation of property that had been entrusted to someone.
Judge Lord Young described the case as a “gross breach of trust,” according to the BBC and Guardian.
Image: Wikimedia Commons / Nicola Sturgeon at an SNP conference, local normalized asset.What about Nicola Sturgeon?
The careful framing matters. Sturgeon was arrested and questioned during Operation Branchform, the Police Scotland investigation into SNP finances, but she was later cleared. Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie was also cleared and not charged.
After Murrell’s plea, Sturgeon said she had “no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever” that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes. She added: “These are not my crimes. I was misled just as others were.”
What happens next
Murrell has been remanded in custody. Sentencing is scheduled for 23 June, and further details of the admitted offending are expected to be set out in court.
The case is part of Operation Branchform, launched by Police Scotland in 2021 after questions about SNP finances and donations raised for Scottish independence campaigning.
Murrell has pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP. The viral shorthand is accurate, but posts should avoid implying Sturgeon was charged or found involved — she was cleared and denies knowledge.
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Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband and former SNP chief executive, has pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party. Key caveat: Sturgeon has not been charged and says she had no knowledge of the misuse.
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