Former SNP chief Peter Murrell jailed for five years over £400,000 embezzlement

The sentencing

Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday. He had pleaded guilty last month to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party over a 12-year period. Judge Lord Young described the offence as a "calculated crime of dishonesty" involving a large number of fraudulent acts.

You found yourself unable to stop this offending, and it was only the detection of the crime that brought it to an end.

Murrell's lawyer told the court that the 61-year-old was "overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame", adding that the nature of his purchases had made him a figure of public ridicule.

A dozen years of theft

Between August 2010 and October 2022, Murrell used party charge cards, bank transfers and fake invoices to fund hundreds of personal purchases. The largest single transaction was £124,550 for a luxury motorhome in 2020, paid for entirely with SNP funds and disguised with false documents. Other items included a Jaguar SUV, Montblanc fountain pens, luxury watches, a £702 salt and pepper set, Le Creuset kitchenware (including Mickey Mouse ramekins), and a robotic lawnmower.

To conceal the embezzlement, Murrell entered misleading accounting codes in the party's finance system. A £3,070 robotic lawnmower was recorded as "legal fees", while a £3,500 silver wine coaster appeared as "leadership expenses". The Crown Office published 125 pages of documents detailing the purchases.

How the embezzlement was uncovered

The investigation, codenamed Operation Branchform, began in March 2021 when independence activist Sean Clerkin filed a police complaint about the SNP's handling of £667,000 raised for a second referendum campaign. Police initially looked into potential fraud, taking statements from more than a dozen donors. However, prosecutors concluded by early 2023 that there was insufficient evidence of false representations that caused money to be handed over. The inquiry then shifted after detectives identified financial irregularities, including Le Creuset purchases at a time when party funds were low. A specialist economic crime team at the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh took over the embezzlement investigation.

Murrell was arrested in April 2023, weeks after resigning as chief executive amid a row over membership numbers. Police searched the Glasgow home he shared with Nicola Sturgeon, as well as SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. Sturgeon was also arrested and questioned but later told she was no longer under investigation. The Crown Office decided there was insufficient admissible evidence against Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie.

Political and personal fallout

Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister and Murrell's estranged wife, has denied any knowledge of the crimes. She said she was "deceived, misled and betrayed" and described herself as "completely exonerated" after the two-year police investigation. The couple announced the end of their marriage last year.

First Minister John Swinney, who appointed Murrell as chief executive in 2001, apologised to party members and called the embezzlement an "overwhelming betrayal". He has rejected calls for an independent inquiry, arguing that the four-year police investigation has already provided sufficient answers.