MANCHESTER, England (CN) – Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of Scotland’s ruling nationalist party, was sentenced Tuesday to five years and three months in prison after admitting embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the party over more than a decade.
A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh said he would have handed down a seven-year sentence if Murrell – who is the estranged husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon – had been convicted after a trial, but reduced it because he pleaded guilty at a preliminary hearing.
Murrell, 61, admitted stealing around $540,000 from the Scottish National Party (SNP) between 2010 and 2022.
He arrived in court in handcuffs with a prison officer, wearing a dark suit and navy tie.
Murrell faces further sentencing.
A proceeds of crime hearing is set for September 14, when prosecutors are expected to seek recovery of the money he stole from the party.
Any forfeiture order would force him to hand over assets linked to his crimes, potentially stripping him of much of the wealth he amassed through theft.
Who is Murrell?
Murrell spent years building the pro-independence, centre-left SNP into Scotland’s dominant political force while secretly stealing from the organization he helped lead.
As chief executive from 2001 to 2023, he helped transform the SNP from a fringe party into a governing machine that won multiple elections in Scotland and the United Kingdom, dominating Scottish politics for nearly two decades.
He was married to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023 and one of the UK’s most popular politicians.
Together, they were seen as one of the country’s most powerful political couples.
Sturgeon resigned in March 2023 and was arrested in June 2023 during a wider investigation, but was later released without charge. She announced that they would end their marriage in 2025.
The conviction closes a chapter in a wide-ranging police investigation that has eroded public confidence in the SNP, although questions remain about Murrell’s motives.
“It is very difficult to have a clear picture of what prompted your actions,” Judge Lord Young said. “Many of the high value items purchased by you were not even used.”
Branch of Operation form
Prosecutors previously told the court he used fake invoices, false accounting records and fraudulent expense claims to hide purchases ranging from luxury watches and a Jaguar electric vehicle to a luxury motorhome, nine vacuum cleaners and an egg poacher.
His lawyer, John Scullion, said at sentencing that Murrell accepted full responsibility and was “overwhelmed with feelings of embarrassment and shame”.
Police Scotland opened its investigation after receiving a complaint about possible mismanagement of the SNP’s finances in March 2021 by political activist Sean Clerkin.
Officers later received about a dozen additional reports, many from party donors.
The force launched Operation Branchform, a four-year investigation led by specialist economic crime detectives.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said the jail sentence showed that people who “embezzle large sums of money will not escape justice, no matter how high a profile or role they may have”.
Houston said Murrell’s “calculated” crimes showed his “disdain for those who believed in him”.
Outside court, Clerkin said he had no sympathy for Murrell.
“There are people who have donated money and have since died and their families have been left angry,” he said.
Clerkin also said Sturgeon still had questions to answer.
In a statement released through her lawyer, Aamer Anwar, she stressed that investigators found no evidence that she had committed any crime.
“While anonymous sources have tried desperately to insinuate guilt, it is clear after a gilded and powerful two-year investigation, Ms Sturgeon was neither charged, prosecuted nor convicted of any criminal offence,” Anwar said.
“Ms Sturgeon is innocent of any crime and while this may be a source of annoyance to some, the fact remains that it was Mr Murrell who was charged, tried, convicted and jailed for his crimes today.”
While Sturgeon will not face further formal police questioning, she continues to face public and political questions about how much she knew about her husband’s embezzlement.
Several purchases were linked to the Glasgow home Murrell shared with Sturgeon.
Police found a silver wine coaster worth about $4,700 on the property. Prosecutors also cited a stocked library in the house, a cabinet for a kettle and corridor mattresses bought using party funds.
Sturgeon has repeatedly denied knowing anything about Murrell’s actions.
Murrell left the Supreme Court in the back of a prison van.
In Scotland, Murrell is classed as a “long-term prisoner” and will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence. He could also be released earlier under a home detention program that uses electronic monitoring and movement restrictions.
Courthouse News reporter James Francis Whitehead is in England.
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