What stolen party funds bought Nicola Sturgeon's husband

Cars, a motorhome, Nintendo games and silver wine coasters are just some of the items the estranged husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon spent embezzled party funds on, court documents have revealed.

Former Scottish National Party (SNP) chief executive Peter Murrell has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for spending 400,000 British pounds ($578,000) of party money to fund a luxury lifestyle.

Murrell, 61, admitted to the embezzlement charges and was given credit for time served.

Ms Sturgeon, who led Scotland's semi-autonomous government for more than eight years, has distanced herself from Murrell since his arrest in April 2023 and said she was not aware of his crimes.

Ms Sturgeon resigned two months before his arrest.

The sentencing caps off a tumultuous time in Scottish politics. The details revealed during the hearing showed Murrell made the purchases over 12 years and provided misleading accounting descriptions for many of them.

What did Peter Murrell buy?

It all began in 2010 when Murrell made five purchases, including a laundry basket, a shoe rack and a PlayStation 3.

Evidence released by Police Scotland showed that by 2021 he had bought a motorhome and dozens of luxury items.

Prosecutors said Murrell was able to use the funds because he had control over the party's account, which contained donations and membership fees.

A motorhome

The most expensive purchase made was a $241,544 motorhome in 2021, which was described by Murrell as a "van" on an invoice.

Items inside the motorhome were also seized and catalogued by police.

Luxury leather goods

Murrell spent $47,724 on leather goods and stationery from Smythson, a luxury London store.

These included a two Montblanc fountain pens worth thousands of dollars, a tea set, and an oyster jewellery box.

Silver wine coaster

Under the guise of "leadership expenses", Murrell bought an ornate silver coaster that cost $6,822.

Luxury watches

Murrell spent $18,217 on two Bremont watches, recorded on accounting software as "event merchandise".

Salt and pepper grinders

Murrell spent just over $5,000 on two salt and pepper grinders from luxury French glassware brand, Lalique.

Two cars

In 2016 Murrell bought a Volkswagen Golf using $31,812 from the party.

He later traded that car in to buy a Jaguar and claimed the expense was for staging party events.

He sold the Jaguar in 2021 and kept $92,318.

For the purchase of the Jaguar, Murrell created a false invoice that said it was purchased from Pentland Motor Company, rather than Pentland Jaguar.

A robotic lawn mower

A robotic lawn mower valued at $4,437 was found in Murrell's garage by police.

Hundreds of homewares

With SNP charge cards, Murrell made 383 purchases of various household items, stationery and kitchenware that amounted to $83,080 spent over 12 years.

The Scottish Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service published the agreed narrative for the prosecution after the sentencing.

It said some of the items listed were recovered by police during their search of Murrell's home in April 2023, with a smaller number of others being recovered from SNP headquarters.

Others were found but left at his home, including a fitted home library partly paid for with SNP funds, a wooden library ladder, a bathroom vanity unit, a kitchen unit for the boiler and fitted mats in the hallway.

The majority of the items purchased were not found during the searches.

What has Nicola Sturgeon said?

The former first minister of Scotland has rejected any blame for Murrell's crimes and said that she was misled and betrayed.

Ms Sturgeon was arrested in June 2023 but was later cleared by police.

In a post on Instagram, she said she was "utterly appalled" by her former partner's actions and that she had "no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever".

"To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain," Ms Sturgeon said.

The couple are getting divorced.

Many critics have questioned why Murrell was allowed to remain chief executive of the SNP after Ms Sturgeon became party leader in 2014.

Sturgeon acknowledged that this was a mistake.