Pictures revealing the inside of a £124,550 luxury motorhome illicitly purchased by former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell have been released. The vehicle, a Niesmann and Bischoff model bought in October 2020, was kitted out with Molton Brown toiletries and kitchenware from Le Creuset and Joseph Joseph. When police seized it from his mother's house in Dunfermline, the odometer showed it had only been driven for four miles.
Murrell appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh in handcuffs on Tuesday after pleading guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from party funds. In a 30-minute statement, advocate depute Alan Cameron KC revealed how Murrell used charge cards, fake invoices and bank transfers to fund lavish purchases. The funds came mainly from membership fees and donations.
The court heard that a £3,000 robotic lawnmower was only found when police searched his house, misdescribed as “legal fees” in the SNP’s accounting software. A silver wine coaster worth £3,500 was listed as “leadership expenses”. More than £42,000 was spent on 383 items from Amazon, not for party purposes and mostly delivered to his home or SNP HQ.
Murrell falsified accounting records and created fake invoices to cover his tracks. His purchases included two Bremont watches for £9,350, two Montblanc Boheme Noir fountain pens for £1,407, and a Hamilton and Inches silver wine coaster. He also created a false invoice for £57,500 to buy an £81,277 Jaguar I-Pace, which he later sold for £47,378, and used £16,489 of SNP funds for a £32,989 Volkswagen Golf.
Murrell was first arrested in 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, a probe into SNP finances. His guilty plea has triggered scrutiny of his estranged wife, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who denies knowledge of his crimes. She said she was “serving a sentence for a crime I didn't commit”. First Minister John Swinney called it a “colossal breach of trust” and admitted controls were inadequate. Murrell has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on June 23.
