Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling party funds

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over more than a decade.

Murrell, the estranged husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh and has been remanded in custody.

The 61-year-old used party funds to illicitly purchase luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome.

He admitted to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 between 12 August 2010 and 19 October 2022.

Murrell, who served as SNP chief executive for more than 20 years, now faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence. He is to be sentenced on 23 June.

He was handcuffed before a hushed courtroom before he was led from the dock.

Judge Lord Young said the former political heavyweight was responsible for a "gross breach of trust".

When details of the charge emerged earlier this year, Murrell was accused of embezzling £459,046.49 between 12 August 2010 and 13 January 2023.

However, it was confirmed at the High Court hearing that the total sum had been cut to £400,310.65, with the period of offending also reduced by three months.

SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney said he was "horrified" by Murrell's conduct, describing it as an "overwhelming betrayal" of party members.

The court published 125 pages of documents detailing Murrell's purchases.

The largest single transaction, in 2020, was £124,550 for a luxury motorhome, paid for entirely with party funds. Murrell was accused of creating false documents to disguise the payment as a legitimate party expense.

His first major purchase, a £33,000 Volkswagen Golf, was made in early 2016 using £16,489 of SNP money.

He used £57,500 of party cash to buy a Jaguar I-PACE car in 2019, and sold it for £47,378.76 two years later.

Murrell also used SNP funds to purchase two Bremont watches for a total of £9,350, a £4,225 Starwalker World Time fountain pen and a £3,500 Hamilton and Inches silver wine coaster.

Murrell also admitted to buying hundreds of other items using party funds, ranging from luxury goods to everyday items. They include:

Murrell served as SNP chief executive for 22 years, overseeing a period of historic electoral success for the party.

Murrell was arrested a month later following a dramatic police raid on the house he shared with Sturgeon, as well as the SNP's Edinburgh headquarters.

The police probe, called Operation Branchform, had been launched 2021 to investigate what happened to £660,000 in SNP donations.

Murrell was charged with embezzlement in April 2024 and first appeared in court in March 2025.

Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested as part of Operation Branchform. Both denied wrongdoing and police confirmed last year that they were no longer under investigation.

Following Murrell's court appearance, Sturgeon said she was "angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP".

The former first minister said in a statement: "I had no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes.

"I am utterly appalled that he did so and cannot begin to understand why."

She said that while there would be "political discussion in light of what has happened", the case had been a "profound personal trauma" and that she would make no further comment.

Swinney, who was in his first spell as SNP leader when Murrell became chief executive in 2001, said he felt the "agony" of party members.

The first minister, who spent almost a decade as Sturgeon's deputy, said he never suspected any wrongdoing by Murrell.

"By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland," he told a news conference.

"These circumstances should never have arisen."

Swinney denied that the SNP's management system had "failed", saying that they had been "bypassed".

He insisted that the party was now under "good governance and good financial management".