Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison after embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National Party to fund an extravagant lifestyle. The list of purchases includes luxury watches, fountain pens, a motorhome, and even a robotic lawnmower falsely logged as legal fees.
Luxury Spending Spree
Murrell, the estranged husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, admitted to misusing SNP funds for personal gain. Among the most notable purchases were a £124,000 motorhome, two Bremont watches totaling £9,350, two Montblanc Boheme Noir fountain pens costing £1,407, and a £3,500 Hamilton and Inches silver wine coaster. He also falsified accounting records and fabricated fake invoices to conceal his actions.
The spending spree included tens of thousands of pounds at high-end retailers. Records show £24,342.60 spent at Montblanc and £24,495.50 at Smythson, known for luxury stationery and leather goods. Additional expenditures included £6,085.86 on Dyson products, £5,319.28 on Le Creuset cookware, and £749.94 on Joseph Joseph kitchen items.
Coffee Machines and Reed Diffusers
Murrell spent £8,991.65 on coffee machines and £1,782.99 on cup warmers. He also purchased £1,056 on Jo Malone reed diffusers and candles, £1,990.50 on umbrellas, and a pair of Lalique salt and pepper grinders costing £2,618.16. Many items were deliberately miscategorized in the SNP's accounting software.
When police searched Murrell's home, they found two Jura coffee machines valued at £3,231.90 and £1,865.75, a robotic lawnmower installed for £3,070 but logged as “legal fees,” and a silver wine coaster entered as “leadership expenses” with the false description “sterling silver presentation quaiches.”
Falsified Invoices and Misleading Descriptions
Court documents reveal Murrell fabricated an invoice for £57,500 to purchase a £81,277 Jaguar I-Pace, later sold for £47,378. He also used £16,489 of SNP funds for a £32,989 Volkswagen Golf. Smaller purchases included £2.50 Neutrogena hand cream, £4 staples, and £12 Chinese takeaway curry sauce paste. A £67 toilet seat also appeared on the 125-page list of items.
Murrell attempted to evade suspicion by assigning misleading descriptions and accounting codes in the party's finance system. A Crown Office statement detailed that a travel watch roll from Smythson was recorded under “staff expenses” as “Double Tree The Glasgow City Hotel,” and a silicone egg poacher set was logged as “computer hardware purchases” described as “Ethernet cabling.”
Sentencing and Deterrence
At the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Young stated the sentence would have been seven years had Murrell not pleaded guilty. He said: “One factor in the sentence which I imposed 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 that you did.” Lord Young added, “I acknowledge that you've played an important and committed role within a very successful political party in Scotland, and the public coverage of your downfall will make future employment difficult, if not impossible.”
Murrell’s KC John Scullion noted Murrell had “sufficient funds” to repay the £400,000 in full and that his client has lived in “isolation” since his guilty plea. Confiscation hearings have been delayed until September 2026.
Nicola Sturgeon's Response
In a statement following Murrell's guilty plea, Nicola Sturgeon said: “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. To be clear: I had no knowledge or suspicion that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes. I am utterly appalled that he did so and cannot begin to understand why. That I was fully cleared after a thorough investigation underlines that these were not my crimes. I was misled, just as others were.”
Murrell was initially detained in April 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, the police probe into SNP finances, and was charged in April 2024. He resigned as SNP chief executive in 2023 after misleading the media about party membership numbers.
