Gifts Peter Murrell purchased for Nicola Sturgeon using funds he illegally embezzled from the SNP cannot be seized, unless the political party takes action, experts have concluded.
The disgraced former chief executive of the SNP, who was imprisoned for pilfering £400,000 from its funds while serving the position, is said to have spent some of that money on gifts for former party leader Mrs Sturgeon. The gifts, believed to be worth £60,000, reportedly included luxury cookware and household appliances she is now under pressure to hand over.
But experts have said a number of items were removed from Murrell’s indictment, meaning they cannot be seized without a new legal challenge.
View 4 ImagesAmong Murrell’s assets is a motorhome, which was shown during an Edinburgh hearing(Image: Crown Office/PA Wire)
Speaking to The Times, legal experts said hundreds of items removed from the indictment as part of a plea deal cannot be seized under the proceeds of crime action. The experts added that they may not be recoverable unless the SNP opens its own separate civil action.
Murrell was remanded in custody last month after admitting to having embezzled £400,310.65 from the SNP over 12 years between 2010 and 2022.
The Scottish Herald reported last week that Murrell will offer to pay back the full amount he embezzled from the party as part of the case his lawyers will make to the court when he faces sentencing. He is due to return to the High Court in Edinburgh later this month, with sentencing to be handed down by presiding judge Lord Young on June 23.
View 4 ImagesMurrell is set to return to court later this month(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
The Herald reports that he will make the offer of repayment at this hearing as part of a plea to have the judge consider imposing a less severe sentence.
If accepted, Lord Young could impose a compensation order on Murrell alongside any other penalties, which could include a prison sentence. A legal source cited by the publication said: “It is quite common for the defence to offer compensation in mitigation and for the sentencing court to take it into account. One of the considerations is the loss to the complainer, which in this case is the SNP.
“In less serious cases the Crown can even sometimes be persuaded to drop a case if the loss is made good.” The court earlier heard during a narrative hearing on Tuesday that Murrell’s assets, now frozen as part of the Proceeds of Crime Order, are more than the sum he pled to embezzling from his former party.
View 4 ImagesMurrell and Sturgeon have shared assets listed among Murrell’s assets(Image: PA)
John Scullion KC, representing Murrell, told the court that the former CEO’s assets had been frozen following a restraint order granted via the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
The KC said: “The value of the property restrained in terms of the petition suggests that there will be repayment of the sum embezzled in this case.” Among those assets are a £124,550 Niesmann+Bischoff motorhome, a “gross funds” sum from two Legal and General pension accounts amounting to £613,496.04, and “heritable property” listed with a value of £88,632 in Murrell and Sturgeon’s name.