Peter Murrell to be sentenced for SNP embezzlement after guilty plea

Former Scottish National Party chief executive Peter Murrell has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party between 2010 and 2022. He used party charge cards, falsified invoices and mis‑described purchases – from a £124,550 motorhome to a £3,070 robotic lawnmower – as legitimate expenses. Police also allege that Murrell took a £107,620 loan from the SNP in 2021 and had the party repay almost half of it, a move described as “money‑laundering” to disguise the stolen funds.

Murrell is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on 23 June. The case has triggered calls for parliamentary inquiries in both Holyrood and Westminster, and former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly denied knowledge of the theft, describing the loan story as a “cock and bull” tale supplied by her estranged husband.