Nicola Sturgeon has said she was “deceived, betrayed and lied to” by her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, as he embezzled more than £400,000 from the Scottish National Party (SNP). The former first minister made the comments during her first public appearance since Murrell pleaded guilty to the crime.
Speaking at Listowel Writers’ Week in County Kerry, Ireland, Sturgeon, 55, said she was having “probably the worst week” of her life and acknowledged that people would question how she could not have known about her husband's actions. She insisted she had been “completely exonerated” after a two-year police investigation, during which she was arrested and questioned but never charged.
Murrell, 61, was remanded in custody after pleading guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022. The funds were used to purchase items including a motorhome, cars, expensive watches and a telescope. Sturgeon said she learned of some purchases only through newspaper reports after Murrell's guilty plea.
Sturgeon described coming to terms with being married to someone she “did not know at all” as a “painful truth to process”. She said she had fully cooperated with Police Scotland and followed legal advice during her interview, later providing a detailed written response. She added that she wanted people to hear her side of the story, accepting there were questions.
