by BILL HEANEY
Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband was jailed for more than five years in June after he admitted stealing a total of £400,310.65 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022.
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the court must calculate a “benefit” figure representing how much Murrell gained from crime, which is then adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index with Housing costs (CPIH) measure.
According to the Herald, this suggests Murrell’s £400,310.65 benefit would rise by roughly 34%, to around £537,000. This represents a weighted average uplift across the 12 years of offending.
Mark Holdsworth, a forensic accountant at Beyond Forensic, said it was a “reasonable” estimate, given the “long period” covered by Murrell’s embezzlement spree. He explained: “Inflationary uprating is very common in confiscation proceedings, including embezzlement cases. Its purpose is to express the historic benefit in present-day terms.”
The court hearing will also determine the “available amount” representing Murrell’s assets, and his lawyer John Scullion KC has already said he intends to repay the full sum.
Court filings show he has more than £600,000 in two pension pots, as well as a half-share in the house he owns with Ms Sturgeon, said to be worth around £88,000.
His assets also include the luxury motorhome he purchased for £124,550 in 2020, which was driven just four miles before being parked outside his mother’s house in Dunfermline – where Ms Sturgeon infamously failed to notice it.
Lord Young, the judge presiding over the case, can also make a compensation order where the victims – the SNP – can look to reclaim the funds. The party has said it intends “to recover from the guilty party the full amount embezzled”.
Kirsten Oswald, the Scottish Government’s victims minister and SNP MSP, told the Scottish Sun the money was ultimately for the party. She said: “I mean, I suppose that money came from the SNP and the donations people gave to the party, so logically I think that’s where it would go.”
However, political opponents say the money should be used to reimburse the taxpayer for the near-£3.5million cost of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, known as Operation Branchform, and the subsequent prosecution.
‘Taxpayers should be at the front of the queue’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said Ms Oswald should “show consideration for the millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash spent in the pursuit of justice”.
He added: “Given that Sturgeon benefited from her husband’s crime spree, it should be taxpayers, not the complicit SNP, who should be at the front of the queue for any proceeds of crime cash.”
Scottish Labour acting leader Jackie Baillie added: “That senior members of the SNP believe the party should simply retain the money suggests they have learned nothing from this scandal. They act with an arrogant entitlement to public money that is deeply unhealthy for Scottish public life. This must end, and the SNP must do the right thing by redirecting this money to good causes.”
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The court agreed to adjourn the proceeds of crime hearing to allow further work towards resolution of the case. The matter will return to court, and any outcome will be reflected through the court process.”
Ms Sturgeon has denied knowing about her husband’s crimes, telling an Edinburgh Fringe event in August: “He was still lying to me right up until the day he pled guilty.”
Last week, MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee launched an inquiry into party political funding and the role of the Lord Advocate following the fraud within the SNP and the long-running investigation.