murrell sentencing - enter your guesses....

[LaliqueSaltGrinder]

So how long do we all think he'll get? Not a legal expert. Natalie McGarry was sentenced to 2 years, reduced to 20 months on appeal, for embezzling £25k. 20 months for this woman https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2026/february/woman-jailed-for-embezzlement-in-dunoon/ in Dunoon who stole £40k. But this guy https://www.scottishfinancialnews.com/articles/aberdeen-accountant-embezzled-ps95000-from-oil-firm-to-fund-gambling-addiction in Aberdeen stole £96k and was given a community service order. In terms of value, the nearest I could see was this case https://www.scottishfinancialnews.com/articles/woman-jailed-for-construction-firm-embezzlement-worth-more-than-ps500000-ordered-to-repay-over-ps80000 whivch was £500k, sentenced to 38 months.

So I am opening the bidding at 40 months.

Ok @Tortoishellcats, you are allowed your opinion too. Why though? Because financial crime isn’t treated serious enough? Or because you don’t like him/her/the party?

Is it wrong I’m super happy I guessed correctly’ 🫣

Michelle Mone and her husband spring to mind.

He’ll serve barely half that

not been a trial over that.

I expect Sturgeon is spitting feathers having to await the conclusion of this trial / investigation. She surely cant progress her divorce and obtain her ££££££ share of their house etc. Meantime has to sofa surf …

Edit: this has been a financial and reputational drain on her carefully constructed image. If it was me. Id be incandescent with rage at the hopeless buffoon. He has cost her more than ££££ ! So perhaps karma does exist 🤔🤔🤔

There should've been.

Absolutely agree.

Scroll down this BBC article and there is a list of the items - bizarre!

Peter Murrell

He must have been a shopaholic, which is a mental illness, not that it excuses him stealing from party funds

And I thought we ordered a lot from Amazon.

I thought they were divorced already

Nope. Separated or estranged. Not divorced.

Indeed - I think she's been canny in handling it this way. Announcing separation over a year in advance of his final court case and sentencing gives lots of 'clear blue water' in terms of PR and distancing herself from his crimes. Plus legally of course he has objectively acted unreasonably, there is abundant evidence of his criminality, and his financial liabilities have been forensically scrutinised. Time for an uncontested, quick clean break now.

I also wish I'd put money on it, out by 3 months.

Yes - also, whilst they remain married, she couldn’t have been forced to give evidence had the case gone to trial

Yes, excellent point and very true, I hadn't thought of that. I think she has played this as best she can. I know a PP said she must have been frustrated, but I disagree, she was biding her time. As evidenced by the timely nature of her interview between his confession and the sentencing. I am lukewarm on her, I'm not Scottish, I don't have a dog in the race, I liked her during Covid, I liked her less later, but I don't think she's stupid. I think she has planned this as best she could with the information she had to hand. Would have gone differently if she hadn't been exonerated of course.

She wasn't exonerated there just wasn't quite enough to make the case against her

The police released an 11 point brief of pertinent points in the case, and have confirmed that NS was exonerated as was Colin Beattie.
He still cannot provide an explanation as to why he did this other than 'he couldn't stop spending' which I don't feel is enough considering he blew 400k of party money and covered it up by submitting false accounts.

And all requests for investigations into the party funds were blocked, of course.

That was a separate allegation which was proven to be untrue years ago.
But investigation into the party funds revealed the information about financial discrepancies which led to Peter Murrell being caught.
It is all laid out in the police briefing.

They are going after Mone and her husband.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7vy1y7myn5o

Great news - as well they should.

That's good news but I doubt any money will be returned or any time served when they are convicted. They are in countries without extradition treaties and the stolen money has been moved multiple times through opaque transactions, its gone.

But if Peter Murrell has enough money, circa 600k in pension funds to pay back the 400k will that money be returned to the SNP, and if so, when would that happen?

No surprise that Mone and the PPE money, which is on a different scale, are long gone.
Very interested to see how they get Murrell's money and whether they can separate it from joint assets with Nicola.