Former SNP executive bought motorhome using party donations
Murrell, 61, the former husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon, is due to be sentenced later in June.
Party donations meant for the Scottish National Party were instead used to buy a motorhome and even a robotic lawnmower, the High Court in Edinburgh has been told.
Judges heard that former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell embezzled £400,310.65 from the party’s main bank account, which prosecutors said was under his control.
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Murrell, 61, the former husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon, is due to be sentenced later in June.
Setting out the prosecution narrative on Wednesday morning, Alan Cameron KC said the money held in that account came largely from “membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies”.
Peter Murrell is brought to the High Court in Edinburgh in a prison van
The court heard that one of the vehicles involved was a Volkswagen Golf, later sold with the proceeds put toward the purchase of a Jaguar I-Pace valued at more than £81,000.
According to Mr Cameron, a false invoice was created for that transaction, with the claim submitted as a “stage payment”.
A wine coaster featured among the items Peter Murrell bought
Prosecutors also detailed Murrell’s purchase of a motorhome worth £124,550.
When officers seized the vehicle from his mother’s home, the odometer showed it had been driven only four miles.
The court heard it was described as a “van rather than a motorhome” when the invoice was submitted.
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Last Monday, Murrell admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
Court documents set out a long list of purchases made with the stolen funds, among them a space telescope, DVDs, a home library ladder costing more than £900, and a coffee machine priced at nearly £3,232.
Murrell’s guilty plea has intensified attention on his former wife, Ms Sturgeon, who has said she had no knowledge of his offending and was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
The former SNP leader has said she was “completely exonerated” following what she described as a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation” that included officers searching the home she once shared with Murrell.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested and questioned during the Police Scotland inquiry into SNP finances, known as Operation Branchform, but the force later confirmed she would face no action.
