Peter Murrell is expected back in court today for a second hearing ahead of his sentencing for embezzling more than £400,000 from his employers.
The former SNP chief executive, and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, last week pled guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh to the massive financial fraud, which saw him use party cash for a string of luxury purchases over the course of a decade.
Murrell was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on June 23. The court hearing today will allow prosecutors to go into greater detail about the nature of the offence.
It comes as SNP ministers have reportedly been told by prosecutors to keep quiet about the details of the Murrell scandal until he has been sentenced.
The Crown Office has advised senior Nationalists to avoid giving the impression of political pressure.
Murrell’s conviction meant the proceedings are no longer considered live for media reporting under the Contempt of Court Act because there was no trial, meaning jurors could not be prejudiced.
But it is understood the Crown Office believes that any public commentary on the detail of the case by political figures would be “sub judice” and should be “avoided”.
Sturgeon was Scotland’s first minister from 2014 to 2023 while her husband, who she wed in 2010, served as the SNP chief executive from 2001 to 2023.
The former SNP leader said on Sunday that Murrell has never explained to her why he embezzled more than £400,000 from the party.
The former FM claimed she now feels like she is “serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit”.
Murrell, 61, spent the money on items including a motorhome, cars, kitchen gadgets, expensive watches and pens, and more mundane purchases such as hand cream and toilet seats.
Sturgeon said the couple were both on high salaries and she thought their incomes would have supported anything she saw in her house.
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In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the-MSP said that Murrell told her a few days before the court hearing that he was going to plead guilty.
Asked whether he had ever given her an explanation she said: “I haven’t seen him from the point he told me he was going to plead guilty until he pled guilty on Monday, because I wasn’t able to – just emotionally wasn’t able to deal with that.
“So he’s never sat down and given me his account. Now, presumably I will hear his account from the court at some point, but he’s never given me an explanation.”