LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - Former Scottish National Party chief executive Peter Murrell was jailed for just over five years on Tuesday after admitting embezzling more than £400,000 ($540,000) of party funds to buy items such as cars, a motorhome and luxury goods.
Murrell, 61, is the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who suddenly resigned in 2023, shortly before she was arrested as part of the probe into the party's finances. She was cleared of wrongdoing in March last year.
He pleaded guilty last month to embezzling £400,310 from the SNP between 2010 and 2023, using the money to buy several vehicles, as well as items from luxury brands such as Estee Lauder and Harrods. He was jailed for five years and three months at Edinburgh High Court on Tuesday.
"Your actions involved a significant breach of trust to the organisation which you led, and to the individual members and donors," the judge, Andrew Young, told him.
"This was a calculated crime of dishonesty. Let me make it clear to you, one factor in the sentence which 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."
The police investigation which led to the arrest of Sturgeon, the SNP's longest-serving leader, along with the conviction of her husband prompted embarrassing questions for the pro-independence party, which has dominated Scottish politics for nearly two decades.
After Murrell's plea, Sturgeon reiterated her innocence and said that she had "no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes".
Sturgeon said she had not spotted the large motorhome, which cost £124,550, parked outside her mother-in-law's house when they went to visit.
"Ms Sturgeon is innocent of any crime and whilst that might be a source of annoyance for some, it remains a fact that it was Mr Murrell who was charged, tried, convicted and imprisoned for his crimes today," her lawyer said.
The authorities will now seek to recoup the embezzled money through proceeds of crime legal action.
(Reporting by Michael HoldenEditing by William James and Gareth Jones)
