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

It'll be quite easy to work out if they did though - there can't be that many Lalique salt and pepper sets doing the rounds of the auction houses at the moment!

Well exactly. And I'm sure the press will be carefully keeping an eye out for some of the more distinctive goods popping up on these sites.

That site is incredible!

They could never do that because of GDPR.

They could absolutely do it if asked by the Police as part of a proceeds of crime investigation. In fact they would be legally obliged to.

Obviously. But the police don’t need that information. It’s irrelevant.

Well it depends like I said. If they suspect he has been making additional contributions to a pension, could they go after that money? I don't know - I am not a lawyer and not an accountant. However, a £600k pension pot for a highly paid man at the age of 61 does not seem out of the box unusual to me in any way. Would imagine it would also depend on what other assets he has in terms of savings, premium bonds, house, cars etc - those are easier to go for before starting any complex investigation into pensions.

But they can go after the whole of it. They will not have any consideration whether it’s AVCs or not.

Reports today in the Herald that he will pay the SNP back £400K.
I don’t understand how he qualified for legal aid 😐

Same. I was under the impression that Legal Aid is very difficult to get. I'm struggling to understand how someone who can repay £400K qualified for it - and continues to qualify for it.

Civil legal aid is very very difficult to get
Criminal legal aid much much easier
Which is fair enough,everyone is entitled to a fair trial and imagine you were charged with a crime you had nt committed you would want to put up the strongest possible defence
I suppose he saved the country a lot off dosh by pleading guilty, and the legal advice he got almost certainly helped broker that deal

I agree with PP
600k is not a lot for someone of his age earning what he was
Particularly as no DC
My DH occasionally refers ( in jest ) to our DC as 1/3 red of his Porsche

Awful.

Funny 🤣

If you're a misogynist, I guess so.

It's like Benny Hill type funny.

Come on. It is hilarious. Am a big fat feminist but I think tabloid headlines / one liners like this are brilliant. But I agree, it is awful they were allowed to exclude so many items. And I am glad we have superb journalists seeking the truth where the SNP sought to cover it all up.

He could have saved us an awful lot more if he had pled guilty immediately and not waited until the final minute. The cost of the police investigation ran into millions.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-figures-who-claimed-660k-37249793

Your sense of humour is different from mine. It reminds me of the days when young female employees had to put up with topless calenders in their workplace etc and getting told "you'd be good at that".

Article listing those involved in the cover up. I haven’t seen debate night on this issue but will look.

Not remotely similar. A joke at the expense of a powerful woman / the legal system is not remotely the same as naked calendar photos.

It is to me. I think it's appalling in 2026. It's "dirty old man" humour. But each to their own.

I think St Nicola could murder someone and you would stand up for her. And the SNP who so love mocking others for not like being mocked.

where is the misogyny? They aren’t making jokes at her expense because she is a woman. Murrell is getting made fun of for buying expensive hairdryers when he is bald…doesn't make that misandry. They are both getting laughed at because of the ridiculousness of the situation.