Peter Murrell has been urged to ‘get help’ by a shopping addiction expert.
The disgraced former SNP chief executive, 61, was jailed for five years and three months on Tuesday after admitting to embezzling more than £400,000 from party funds over a 12-year period.
Nicola Sturgeon ‘s estranged husband used the cash to fund a lavish lifestyle, buying everything from luxury watches and Montblanc pens to a £124,550 motorhome, kitchen gadgets and everyday household items.
View 7 ImagesPeter Murrell appearing at the High Court in Edinburgh(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Court documents and images released by prosecutors showed Murrell had purchased hundreds of items over the years, ranging from expensive Smythson accessories, coffee machines and Le Creuset cookware to hand cream, batteries and an egg poacher.
Now Zaheen Ahmed, Head of Addiction Treatment at The UKAT Group, who treat hundreds of people at their rehab centres, has told the Record that Murrell’s behaviour seems to be symptomatic of someone with a shopping addiction.
View 7 ImagesZaheen Ahmed(Image: Supplied)
He said: “Addiction is the loss of the power of choice,” he said. “Whether that was the case for Peter Murrell is impossible to determine without a full clinical assessment.
“However, from the outside looking in, his reported actions do appear to mimic behaviours we commonly see in people struggling with shopping addiction. We would encourage him to engage with professional support.”
View 7 ImagesLuxury pens bought by Peter Murrell(Image: Crown Office)
Zaheen explained that shopping addiction is often misunderstood and can be driven by emotional need rather than a desire for expensive possessions.
He added: “Shopping addiction isn’t about enjoying the odd splurge. It’s a compulsive behaviour driven by emotional need rather than logic or necessity. The act of buying creates a temporary psychological ‘high’ and a rush of dopamine to the brain, but it quickly fades, pushing the individual to spend again to regain that feeling.
View 7 ImagesA Montblanc yellow gold fountain pen worth £2137
“Over time, this cycle can spiral, leading people to justify behaviour they would once have considered unthinkable. We often see secrecy, loss of control, and continued spending despite serious consequences – financial, relational, and in extreme cases, legal.
“While this doesn’t excuse criminal behaviour, it does underline the importance of recognising shopping addiction as a serious and treatable condition, not a joke or a lack of willpower.”
View 7 ImagesMurrell admitted embezzling SNP funds between 2010 and 2022 while serving as the party’s longest-serving chief executive.
Among the purchases highlighted by prosecutors were two luxury Bremont watches worth more than £9,300, a £2,396 tea set, a £2,495 jewellery box, a £3,231 coffee machine and numerous Montblanc pens and accessories.
The court heard Murrell disguised personal spending by recording purchases under false descriptions in the SNP’s accounting system. A luxury watch was entered as “event merchandise”, while a £23 egg poacher was listed as “computer hardware purchases” and described as “Ethernet cabling”.
View 7 ImagesSentencing Murrell at the High Court in Edinburgh, Lord Young described the fraud as a “calculated crime of dishonesty” and a “significant breach of trust”, telling him his conduct warranted a prison sentence to deter senior officials in other organisations from abusing positions of authority in a similar way.
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The UKAT Group have a 24/7 confidential shopping addiction helpline available at https://www.ukat.co.uk/addiction/behavioural/shopping/
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