appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

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 (US$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 Estée 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 seek to recoup the embezzled money.


Former Scottish National Party chief Peter Murrell jailed for embezzling party funds

Australia refuses release of climate fund reports for Pacific nation Tuvalu

After 6 prime ministers in 10 years, can anyone fix the UK?

Is China’s risk tolerance reaching its limit with pause of African mine deal?

Britain

Former SNP boss Peter Murrell arrives in a prison van at Edinburgh High Court for sentencing on Tuesday. Photo: via AP

Nicola Sturgeon, then Scottish First Minister, poses for the media with husband Peter Murrell in Glasgow in 2019. Photo: AP

Vietnam sells disgraced tycoon’s Hermes bags to recoup US$27 billion in damages

Truong My Lan attends her trial at a court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Wife of Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez charged with corruption

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, and his wife Begona Gomez at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Monday. Photo: AFP

Former Shaolin Temple abbot indicted for bribery and embezzlement

Beyond embezzlement and bribery allegations, Shi Yongxin has also been accused of violating Buddhist principles, maintaining “improper relations” with multiple women and fathering at least one child. Photo: SCMP

Elephants’ transfer to Japan sparks Malaysia’s corruption inquiry

Three elephants that were previously from Malaysia stand in their enclosure at the Tennoji Zoo in Osaka. Photo: Facebook/The Patriot Studio 

Amoi, Kelat and Dara drink from a concrete pool at the Tennoji Zoo in Osaka. Photo: Threads/cutehanxyu

Scotland’s former leader Nicola Sturgeon cleared in investigation into party finances

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photo: PA via AP

Former SNP chief executive and Sturgeon’s estranged husband Peter Murrell. Photo: AFP

News

World

Europe

Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, admitted spending US$540,000 on items including a motorhome and cars


Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, admitted spending US$540,000 on items including a motorhome and cars.


Crime

Former Scottish National Party chief Peter Murrell jailed for embezzling party funds

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, admitted spending US$540,000 on items including a motorhome and cars

Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, admitted spending US$540,000 on items including a motorhome and cars