Peter Murrell embezzlement trial

[Sunnnyday]

Peter Murrell is in court in Edinburgh today. This is for the preliminary hearing which was postponed from before the election. It will be interesting to see how the criminal proceedings proceed.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/peter-murrell-arrives-at-court-ahead-of-hearing-on-embezzlement-charges/ar-AA23Ybuy?ocid=msedgntp&pc

That's one dark mind you have there.

I agree, i also think it was a big F you to Nicola and her role as FM at that time.

Looking at the false invoice detailing on the bbc page I think the treasurer and finance committees have a lot to answer for, but the professional auditors probably don’t.

The books balanced outwardly. The treasurer and SNP team should have picked up the dubious legal fees, event merchandising (why the fuck would that be the CEO ordering?!) and the likes.

would also be very interesting to know who the two other charge cards he used were assigned to.

Would also be very interesting to know who this was and if at any point they flagged any issues The former SNP chief executive had direct access to the accounting system and could log purchases himself, though the court heard that the majority of such work was carried out by a staff member under his direction.

Supporting a man you know is a thief into the CEO role isn’t kind, it’s irresponsible.

Setting it up so that Murrell was CEO and Sturgeon was party leader whilst he swapped from MP to MSP so he could aim for FM showed that he was prepared to support, even push for, the very thing he later claimed he told them was a bad idea whilst it suited his own political aims.

He also did nothing while he was party leader and FM to ensure the known thief wasn’t able to thieve further.

i always liked Salmond, but in this one he’s just as culpable as Sturgeon, Swinney, Beattie and every person in committees or on SNP staff who allowed Murrell to enjoy his decade plus of theft.

well given that sturgeon and beattie were the other two people investigated, I'd assume the other credit cards were linked to them?

But that's the problem. Scotland is a small country and the elite tend to know each other from way back. Processes have to be followed, not making allowances for old pals.

if sturgeon hadn’t blocked the accounts being looked at it wouldn’t have

😂

That was 11 years into his pilfering as CEO.

It should have been stopped long before she was anywhere near the accounts as leader.

I mean it’s not like she suddenly appeared out of nowhere as leader, she’d been v senior in this party for quite some time…

And Alex Salmond had been the leader for years and knew that Murrell was a thief.

And knew that Murrell and Sturgeon were a couple (real or otherwise) when he chose her as the person to be by his side (and temporary leader) to get back in.

Processes should have been in place long before Sturgeon was leader, and pretending otherwise is just allowing others (some like Swinney and Beattie still involved) to go unquestioned.

It’s just staggering that Colin Beattie is still the treasurer.

Even if he is wholly innocent and has been blackmailed / conned / whatever into signing off whatever allowed this to happen it’s atrocious that he’s still in place.

Unless Swinney knows there is ultimately going to be an investigation, either at Holyrood or Westminster, and Beattie may be the only person he could reasonably try and get rid of other than himself when the failings are exposed further

This is as good as John Crace's demolition job in The Guardian

https://www.thetimes.com/article/905c1415-2755-4ebd-82bb-4f1aa0f4b8ff?shareToken=02a5b7770d431820826b6ffc2705151f

"There isn’t a single policy of Nigel Farage’s that is as potentially destructive of stability and prosperity as Scottish independence. Liz Truss has never proposed anything remotely as fiscally irresponsible. Boris Johnson has never campaigned for anything as ill thought through. Diane Abbott has never advanced an idea so mathematically illiterate."

" Murrell spent £3,500 on a wine coaster and even this was a better use of money than spending it on promoting Scottish independence."

he will claim MH issues.

I suspect he will say very little. I think he's probably done a deal with various people to keep quiet and carry the can for their collective incompetence as well as his thievery.

It’s great seeing all of the journalists going in studs up on this. They have clearly loathed NS’s patronising, grievance-ridden, smug but ultimately not very intelligent manner for some time and are now letting rip. It’s a wonderful sight. She and the party are getting just what they deserve. Joanna Cherry and Douglas Chapman must be loving it!

Finkelstein isn't holding back, is he?! It's not just one or two journalists who are going for the pendant-adorned jugular either - so many of them are seeing right through the tears and BS and letting their keyboards do their worst. The mask has well and truly slipped from the SNP.

Yes, I agree. He’ll offer plenty of mitigation.

Unfortunately for Murrell his methodology shows a little too much organised cunning and forethought, not the chaotic streak of addiction or breakdown. The timeline is against him too. It’s relatively long term and steady, not a rapid spiral down to discovery.

I agree with this too. He won’t get a huge sentence. Has he paid anything back? Where are the salt shakers and the Dyson hairdryers?

What has happened to the infamous motor home and the Jag? And of course the pendant he gave Sturgeon?

He claimed legal aid too! Something is very fishy here

She’d banned the ones who questioned her from briefings, so I guess that’s coming home to roost!

Salmond told sturgeon the party leader and ceo being married shouldn’t happen, but was ignored