Police Scotland could face a judicial review over the force's decision to drop an investigation into how the SNP spent more than £650,000 of donations, a pro-independence blogger has claimed.
Stuart Campbell, who runs the Wings over Scotland site, said complainers who sparked the Operation Branchform probe had been given "no explanation" as to why detectives chose to focus their investigation on Peter Murrell.
Background of the Investigation
Operation Branchform was launched in 2021 after 14 complaints were received from members of the public about how more than £650,000 of donations were ultimately spent by the SNP. The party ran two online fundraisers in 2017 and 2019 and pledged the funds would be "ring-fenced" for an IndyRef2 campaign that never took place.
The Record understands cops took a decision in 2023 to focus their probe on Murrell, the former long-serving chief executive of the SNP and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon. He was last week jailed for five years after admitting embezzling more than £400,000 of party cash.
Call for Judicial Review
Asked if he thought the case was now closed, Campbell said: "There are all kinds of avenues for pursuing the original 'crime', let's call it. We had Roddy Dunlop KC send letters to the police and the Crown Office asking for an explanation for why there's been no prosecution, particularly in the light of John Swinney saying 'yeah, we spent all this money'. They weren't allowed to spend all that money. There's no doubt about that. By any reasonable interpretation of the law, it is common law fraud to raise money and say 'we will absolutely only spend this money on one thing' - and then just spend it on something completely different."
He continued: "There are several avenues for pursuing it, one of which is to apply for judicial review against the police. Because neither the police nor the Crown Office have yet given us any kind of explanation for why they decided there wasn't a crime there. That money was raised for a specific purpose and it was spent on a different purpose, even if a few people got their money back. That needs to be explained."
Concerns Over Crown Office
Campbell also raised concerns about the Crown Office's role: "The Crown Office have said they are not going to prosecute this, but they have not explained why. There's a big problem with that as the Crown Office isn't answerable to anyone. That creates a massive conflict of interest in that the Lord Advocate is a minister in the Government, and the Lord Advocate is asked to investigate the people."
He added: "I don't think this is going away any time soon. There is the possibility of private prosecution, there is the possibility of a group action from people who want their money back."
John Swinney's Admission
First Minister John Swinney previously admitted the £600,000 was used to pay for the SNP's "ongoing activity". Speaking earlier this month, he said: "We're the party that campaigns for independence. We just fought an election campaign in which we had a very, very strong anchoring of our campaign for independence. If that's not the use of the resources then I'm not sure I understand what the resources are for."
