Four criminals, including former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, have been jailed in Scotland this week for a total of more than 17 years. The sentences cover crimes such as embezzlement, organised crime, fraud, and drug supply.
Peter Murrell jailed for embezzling over £400,000 from SNP
Disgraced Peter Murrell, the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, was sentenced to five years and three months on Tuesday after embezzling more than £400,000 from SNP funds. Murrell, who served as SNP chief executive for over two decades, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh last month. The theft occurred over twelve years, from 2010 to 2022, with the funds used to buy luxury goods, cosmetics, cars, and a motorhome.
Sentencing, Lord Young said: “Your actions involved a significant breach of trust to the organisation, which you led, and to the individual members and donors of that organisation. Because of your position of authority, you were able to circumvent the checks and balances that existed. The manner of the embezzlement, although not particularly sophisticated, included the fabrication of invoices, you gave false information to junior members of staff to input into the accounting system. All told, this is a calculated crime of dishonesty, and let me make it clear to you, one factor in the sentence which I impose today will be to act as a deterrent to any senior officials in other large organisations who might be tempted to abuse their position in the way that you did.”
Ex-boxing promoter Mario Rea jailed for six years for organised crime
Mario Rea, 47, a former boxing promoter and trusted lieutenant of gangland killer Robert “Birdman” O’Hara, was jailed for six years on Wednesday. Rea acted as O’Hara’s sidekick while O’Hara was serving a life sentence for murder. The dirty cash from a major narcotics operation funded an illicit lifestyle for O’Hara’s partner and daughter, including luxury flats, fast cars, and designer clothes and watches.
Rea pleaded guilty to two charges of serious organised crime and one under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The gang was snared after a large-scale police probe in 2021. O’Hara, convicted in 2005 for the murder of Paul McDowall in Glasgow’s Possilpark, was serving a life sentence at the time. The Operation Gadget investigation initially focused on another crew member, David “Murfy” Hough. Police seized a huge haul of class A drugs, firearms, grenades, ammunition, and an industrial pill press that produced hundreds of thousands of street Valium tablets. The court heard how O’Hara was furious when Rea failed to pay rent on his behalf. O’Hara stormed: “See if my family are papped out, there will be no talking. There will be no nothing, mate. We will be falling out over this.” So much cash was flooding in that O’Hara wanted to buy a £225,000 Lamborghini Huracan and sent his partner 71 links on Rightmove for houses ranging from £500,000 to £1m.
Fraudster Ian Jones jailed for three years for importing £4m fake designer goods
Ian Jones, 65, from Paisley, was sentenced to three years at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Wednesday, June 24, after admitting 15 charges of selling counterfeit goods valued at £3.8 million. Jones sold the fake designer items from three industrial units across Glasgow and Lanarkshire between June 2021 and November 2022. Trading Standards officers raided all three addresses, uncovering hauls of fake clothes and bags from brands including Gucci, Prada, Stone Island, Dior, and Canada Goose. The search of five rented Portacabins in Ibrox in June 2021 resulted in the largest recovery of counterfeit goods in the UK at the time. It took officers two days to collate the 30-tonne haul. Jones stored the goods at units in College Milton Industrial Estate, East Kilbride, Righead Industrial Estate, Bellshill, and Glasgow. The items were imported from Hong Kong, China, and Turkey, then transported to Scotland from the East Midlands. Jones sold them directly to customers for cash via word of mouth. He will now face confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Declan Price jailed for 40 months for cocaine supply
Declan Price, 29, a footsoldier for drug kingpin Paul Easdon, was jailed for 40 months on Thursday after being caught with £300,000 of cocaine. Easdon, 38, of Strathaven, is already serving six years for his part in a huge drug trafficking operation and will be sentenced for the latest matter next month. Price and Easdon admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Easdon boasted that the cartel was making £4m a month from cocaine sales. He was in the same criminal network as ex-Mr Scotland bodybuilder John Barry McDuff, jailed for seven years in 2024. The pair were caught after authorities smashed the EncroChat phone network; Easdon used the nickname “glasgowceltic”. He is understood to be a rival to Jamie “Iceman” Stevenson, who reportedly ordered firebomb attacks on a hair salon in Hamilton run by Easdon’s wife.
Laura Radcliffe, defending Price, said his offending started after a fallout with his uncle, his employer. She added: “He had temporary employment which did not work out and he was in a difficult financial position with debts accruing. He came into contact with those involved in the drug trade and the opportunity was made to him to make some money - he had not been involved in this before. This is something he will regret for the rest of his life and has had an effect on his family who are disappointed in him. He is disappointed that he finds himself before the court.”
