Peter Murrell jailed for five years after embezzling £400,000 from SNP

Peter Murrell has been sentenced to five years and three months in jail after he admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National party while he was its chief executive.Murrell stole the money over a 12-year period, splashing out on a luxury motorhome, a Jaguar SUV, Montblanc pens and luxury watches, a set of Lalique salt and pepper grinders and 2kg of coffee granules.The now estranged husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Murrell covered up his theft of £400,315.65 by entering false accounting codes in the SNP’s accounts and submitting falsified invoices.In the high court in Edinburgh, Lord Young told Murrell he was guilty of a “calculated crime of dishonesty” which involved “a significant breach of trust” affecting his former party and party donors.Handing down the sentence, which was backdated to Murrell’s guilty plea on 25 May, the judge told Murrell he wanted to send a clear warning to others that these crimes carried significant punishments.“Let me make it clear to you, one factor in the sentence I impose today will be to act as a deterrent to any senior officials in other large organisations who might be tempted to abuse their position in the way you did,” Young said.If Murrell had pleaded not guilty and had gone to trial, he would have faced seven years in jail.Despite a lengthy criminal social work report based on interviews with Murrell, Young said he could find no satisfactory explanation for his crimes. Murrell had told the author of that report that he had found it impossible to stop his embezzlement until he was arrested.John Scullion KC, Murrell’s defence lawyer, told the court Murrell took full responsibility for his crimes and knew time in prison was “entirely deserved”. He felt “guilt and remorse” and had been “overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame”.Since his arrest, Murrell had become very isolated, been ostracised by his friends and former colleagues, and become “a figure of public ridicule”. There was no prospect of him reoffending, Scullion said. “His humiliation will endure beyond any sentence his lordship imposes, and may prove lifelong. His future beyond custody is uncertain but presently seems bleak and solitary.”Scullion confirmed that Murrell had enough money of his own to repay the £400,310.65 he stole from the SNP under a criminal confiscation order, but Young postponed a hearing on those proceedings until mid-September to give the prosecution and defence further time to decide on the full figure.Under the Proceedings of Crime Act, the state can apply interest and other costs, including any benefits to the offender, at a set tariff.