The former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Peter Murrell, has been jailed for five years and three months for embezzling more than £400,000 in party funds.
The 61-year-old, who is the estranged husband of former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to the offence last month.
Murrell would have faced a seven-year jail term if convicted after trial, but received a reduced sentence due to his guilty plea at an early stage of proceedings.
Between August 2010 and October 2022, Murrell reportedly used the stolen funds to purchase a range of personal items, including a motorhome, luxury fountain pens, video games, cars, kitchenware, and toiletries.
One of the most significant purchases was a £124,550 motorhome, which was later recovered from his mother’s property with only four miles on the odometer.
During mitigation, his defence counsel told the court that Murrell accepted full responsibility for his actions and expressed remorse, stating that he did not seek to minimise his culpability.
He also told the court that Murrell was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment, and recognised the financial, emotional, and psychological harm caused to the party and its members.
Sentencing him on Tuesday, Lord Young described Murrell’s conduct as “a calculated crime of dishonesty,” adding that the offences reflected a serious breach of trust against the organisation he once led.
The judge said the offending only came to an end after it was detected, noting that Murrell had been unable to stop his actions on his own.
He also stated that the sentence was intended to serve as a deterrent to senior officials in positions of authority who might be tempted to abuse their power.
Lord Young added that he could find no significant mitigating factors in the case and described the offences as difficult to justify, given the nature and extent of the misuse of funds.
Murrell’s conviction is one of the most high-profile financial scandals in Scottish politics, underscoring the court’s emphasis on accountability and deterrence in cases involving abuse of public trust.