Husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon charged with embezzling party funds

Scottish police have been investigating how £600,000 (US$750,000) earmarked for a Scottish independence campaign were spent. Murrell, Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, the Scottish National Party’s former treasurer, were arrested and questioned last year in the investigation but released without being charged with a crime.

Murrell’s first arrest came soon after Sturgeon’s stunning announcement in February 2023 that she was resigning her post after eight years as party leader and first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government.

Murrell stepped down on March 18 amid controversy about the party’s declining membership and a bitter fight to replace Sturgeon. He held the position for more than 20 years.

At the time of Murrell’s first arrest, police searched the couple’s Glasgow home over two days.

Sturgeon said after being released from custody in June that her arrest had been “both a shock and deeply distressing”. She insisted she had done nothing wrong.

“I do wish to say this, and to do so in the strongest possible terms,” she said in a statement on social media at the time.

“Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”

In announcing her resignation, Sturgeon said she knew “in my head and in my heart” that it was the right time for her, her party and her country to make way for someone else.