Nicola Sturgeon denies any knowledge of items husband Peter Murrell bought with embezzled £400,000

Nicola Sturgeon has denied any knowledge or suspicion of items her estranged husband bought after he admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP.

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell used the funds to buy items, including luxury goods and a motorhome, and towards the purchase of two cars between August 2010 and October 2022.

A top police officer said Murrell, 61, diverted the cash from the SNP to "bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford".

Murrell pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday.

His estranged wife, former first minister Ms Sturgeon, said in a statement via her lawyers: "Today the media is reporting details of items that my former husband has now admitted buying with SNP funds.

"I have seen questions raised about how I could not have known about this.

"I want to reiterate that I had no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that personal items had been purchased using SNP funds.

"I was cleared of any wrongdoing after a lengthy and thorough investigation. In relation to many of the items in question, for example expensive watches and games consoles, I was not aware of them having been purchased at all.

"Indeed in relation to the item of largest value - a campervan - I was not aware of its existence until it featured in the police investigation in early 2023, nor was it parked in our driveway as has been claimed by some."

She also said in an Instagram story that she was "angry, hurt, sad and very distressed about the impact of his actions on family, friends and the SNP".

"To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain. Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension," she wrote.

Murrell was first arrested in April 2023 as part of Operation Branchform - a Police Scotland probe into the funding and finances of the SNP - and was charged with embezzlement one year later.

Operation Branchform: The downfall of Peter Murrell

Judge Lord Young told the former political party kingpin: "You have pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement over a period of 12 years.

"You embezzled just over £400,000 from the Scottish National Party.

"As the chief executive officer of that organisation throughout that period your actions constitute a gross breach of trust."

Murrell was handcuffed in the dock and remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on 23 June.

He originally faced an embezzlement charge amounting to £459,046.49, but pleaded guilty to an amended indictment.

A full narrative of the facts will be heard in court when the case is called again on 2 June.

Following Monday's hearing, the court published 125 pages of documents detailing the charge against Murrell.

It included using £16,489 of SNP money in 2016 in part payment for a £32,989 Volkswagen Golf.

He then used £57,500 of party funds towards the purchase of an £81,277 Jaguar I-PACE car in 2019.

Murrell then falsified an invoice "in an attempt to disguise the true nature of said purchase", and when the motor was sold in 2021 to We Buy Any Car, £47,378.76 was paid into his personal bank account.

In 2020, he then used £124,550 of SNP funds to buy a Niesmann and Bischoff Smove 7.4E motorhome for his "own personal use".

The indictment also includes dozens of retailers where Murrell made purchases totalling £139,971.

These purchases were made using credit cards or charge cards belonging to the SNP, with "false or inaccurate accounting codes and descriptions" for the items inserted into the party's accounting system.

Goods purchased over the years included a PlayStation 3 for £247.42; games for multiple different consoles including Grand Theft Auto V (£42.99), The Sims 3: Pets (£31.82) and Battlefield 4 (£34.69); and two Bremont watches amounting to £9,350.25.

He also spent £4,225 on a Starwalker World Time fountain pen; £68.82 on two Ideal Standard toilet seats; and £3,231.90 on a Jura Giga 5 Cromo coffee machine.

Other purchases included a Celestron 11069 NexStar 8SE computerised Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (£1,199); two pairs of Fit Nation socks (£11.95); a Fortnum & Mason musical advent calendar (£150); and a Beatles special edition fountain pen and rollerball (£1,475).

SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney said the "level of personal horror" he felt over Murrell's crimes was "difficult for me to properly convey".

He described it as a "tough day" for the party and "an overwhelming betrayal", adding: "I am gutted by this today."

His comments came as he apologised to those affected by Murrell's "whole-scale deception", acknowledging the SNP had been "badly, badly, badly let down" by its former chief executive.

He said: "What I am thinking about, I've not been able to stop thinking about, is the decent people who have stood with me at coffee mornings and jumble sales, raising the money, paying their money to party headquarters.

"People who I know don't have much money to rub together, but have paid their membership subs to keep the SNP afloat because they believe in independence."

Mr Swinney said Murrell "should have known this was the wrong thing to do".

The first minister added: "By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams, and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country.

"So, today I am horrified, I am betrayed."

Murrell, who had been SNP chief executive for more than 20 years, resigned in March 2023 amid a row over party membership numbers.

Ms Sturgeon and ex-party treasurer MSP Colin Beattie were also arrested as part of Operation Branchform, but both were later cleared of any wrongdoing by Police Scotland.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston, who had oversight of Operation Branchform, said: "This was a lengthy and extremely complex case due to the scale of criminality over a 12-year period and the lengths Peter Murrell went to try and cover his tracks.

"I commend the professionalism and absolute dedication of the Operation Branchform team who spent more than four years carrying out extensive enquiries across Europe to unpick Murrell's offending."

ACC Houston said the investigative work, in close partnership with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), was carried out "under the most intense public scrutiny".

He added: "This is without doubt one of the most high-profile investigations in recent times and it is testimony to the work of Police Scotland officers and staff that has led to Peter Murrell's admission of guilt early in the court process.

"I would also like to thank the many witnesses who came forward to provide us with statements as we built the case against Peter Murrell. Their engagement with us was vital.

"Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him as the chief executive of a political party and his position in the wider political establishment in Scotland for many years.

"He abused his privileged position with access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.

"From 2010 to 2022 he spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on luxury goods while carefully trying to hide his criminality with false receipts and accounting.

"He must now face the consequences of his actions."

In January 2025, Ms Sturgeon announced she had split from Murrell.

The pair, who first met via the SNP in 1988 and became a couple in 2003, married in 2010.

Ms Sturgeon announced the separation in a post on Instagram, revealing they had been "separated for some time now" but "still care deeply for each other, and always will".

Former SNP MSP Joanna Cherry believes Ms Sturgeon "has questions to answer".

She told Sky News: "I fully understand why people are surprised that she didn't ask any questions about the large amount of luxury goods that were coming into the home, which she shared with Peter Murrell.

"What seems to have been happening is that Peter Murrell has been using party funds for years to feather his own nest, and of course for most of that time that was a nest he shared with Nicola Sturgeon.

"So, I understand people are asking questions."

Ms Cherry, who is no longer a member of the party, quit the SNP's National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2021 amid concerns about financial "transparency".

She said those who were elected to get to the bottom of what they believed was "mismanagement" were "deliberately thwarted".

Ms Cherry claimed Ms Sturgeon ran the party "with a rod of iron" and believes the buck stops with her.

She added: "She has questions to answer, and by portraying herself as the victim of Peter Murrell's crime, she's trying to avoid the scrutiny that should come as a result of his admission of guilt."

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