Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband in custody after pleading guilty to embezzling £400,000 from the SNP
Former Scottish National Party chief executive Peter Murrell has been remanded in custody after admitting at the High Court in Edinburgh to embezzling £400,310.65 from the political party.
Murrell pleaded guilty to the charges when he appeared in court Monday morning.
The former chief executive, who is Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, was accused of embezzling funds from the Scottish National Party between August 2010 and October 2022, part of his 22-year tenure as chief executive of the party.
He admitted an amended indictment which reduced the amount of money embezzled to more than £459,000.
He arrived at the Supreme Court on Monday wearing a black suit and black tie. Sentencing is expected on June 23 and he has been taken into custody.
Murrell, 61, admitted using SNP money to buy items including a caravan and luxury goods, as well as buying two cars.
The former party boss was first arrested in April 2023 and charged in April 2024 as part of a police investigation into the SNP’s finances.
He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March 2025, where he faced charges of embezzlement and entered no plea.
The indictment included allegations that Murrell used party funds to purchase a caravan worth £124,550 for his own personal use in 2020.
Murrell was chief executive of the SNP for more than 20 years until he resigned during the leadership race to replace Ms Sturgeon in 2023.
For many years they were one of the most powerful couples in UK politics; Ms Sturgeon served as Scotland’s first minister and leader of the SNP for more than eight years, while Mr Murrell was the party’s chief executive.
In January last year, Ms Sturgeon announced that she and Murrell had “decided to end” their marriage.
Murrell’s conviction is the result of a police investigation called Operation Branchform, which was first launched in 2021.
The operation investigated the finances and finances of the SNP and included several high-profile arrests.
The cost of policing the long-running investigation has exceeded £2 million.
