Peter Murrell

Casdon

It depends what the rest of your income is though Rosie52. If you have an income of £20k it would be obvious. If you have an income of £250k it would be much less so. Millions of households have one partner who controls the money. I’m not saying she was innocent, I’m saying like so many things, people jump to conclusions when in possession of only some of the facts.

That is exactly what I said about the Trump/obama thread. We are not in possession of the full facts.

There is a lot more information about the Epstein case already than we know about this case though. Epstein was undoubtedly a perverted creep and arch manipulator - but he kept detailed records of everything that happened, including as came to light today, video records.

Murrell is innocent until proven guilty so l don't see how we can judge what Sturgeon knew until it's proven what he did, or didn't, do.
Oh absolutely, OldFrill, but that hasn’t stopped the pre- judgements in other cases.

petra

Of course she knew 🤷‍♀️ You would be deaf dumb and blind not to question where all the goodies were coming from.

He kept the campervan parked at his mother's house. Maybe NS never noticed because she didn't get on with MIL?

A significant amount of prejudgement happens before somebody is charged, or a case is not brought. Once a person is charged they become the accused.

butterandjam

petra

Of course she knew 🤷‍♀️ You would be deaf dumb and blind not to question where all the goodies were coming from.

He kept the campervan parked at his mother's house. Maybe NS never noticed because she didn't get on with MIL?

Oh, I didn't know she had no contact with her mother-in-law.
That might explain it, well some of it, not all.

It makes you think doesn’t it? She disassociated herself quite quickly so either she knew and was getting out pdq or she didn’t know and was disgusted to find out.

She disassociated herself quite quickly

She consciously uncoupled.

Mollygo

^Murrell is innocent until proven guilty so l don't see how we can judge what Sturgeon knew until it's proven what he did, or didn't, do.^
Oh absolutely, OldFrill, but that hasn’t stopped the pre- judgements in other cases.

Like headless chickens they orgasm on their last cluck. Happy days. I'm rather perturbed Murrell's getting legal aid and the February court case has been moved from February until after the May election and from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I imagine that was Scotgov's influence.

paddyanne If having a campaign bus bought during Covid ,when MP,swore being criticised daily for having meetings in public houses etc is the main concern then can we also turn our attention to Angela Rayner….who had a “ battle bus “ with Angela’s battle bus written large across it!

That would be the campaign bus aka a motorhome that was never used but parked on his mother's drive the entire time?
I wonder what the alleged cars, jewellery and B&Q purchases could have added to the campaign?

I'm no fan of Angela Rayner, but her 'battle bus' was used for its stated purpose.

I haven't seen Angela decked out in glittering diamonds either.

Innocent until proven guilty? I won't condemn until all the facts are known.

can we also turn our attention to Angela Rayner….who had a “ battle bus “ with Angela’s battle bus written large across it!

Why? It was used for what it said on the tin - campaigning.
Did Ms Rayner falsify documents to buy it?
Others may have been subjected to scrutiny:
Controversy: In April 2025, it was reported that the Electoral Commission was investigating allegations from Conservatives that 24 Labour MPs failed to declare the bus’s visits in their local election expenses.
😁
Nothing to see, move on.

What was the hidden campervan used for?
Sorry, not just a campervan - a £125,000 motorhome.

Goodness, it comes to something when I'm defending Angela so vigorously but really, there is nothing to see, nothing to compare.

Allira I get the feeling that SNP officials could do a Trump and still paddyann would defend, deflect or ignore. She does exhibit total, unwavering, unquestioning loyalty.

I would be very disappointed if it was proved that Nicola Sturgeon knew what was going on. I’m not really sure what exactly has been discovered about Murrell, and I would have expected that, as First Minister of Scotland, Nicola would have ordered a thorough investigation if she had had the slightest suspicion of wrongdoing.
The situation is complicated, not just a case of a motorhome appearing and the couple using it to enjoy weekends away, with Murrell saying he had bought it with his own money. Here is what I believed -

Motorhome in the SNP’s published accounts
•In the SNP’s 2024 financial accounts (filed with the UK’s Electoral Commission), the party reported spending around £100,790 on the motorhome. 
•The accounts also listed it as an asset, with a depreciated value of about £41,284 as of 31 December 2024 — even though it had been impounded by Police Scotland since April 2023 as part of the probe into SNP finances. 

📌 Why that’s controversial
•The vehicle was seized by police during Operation Branchform, a long-running investigation into how party funds were used, after complaints about missing referendum funds and unusual expenditures. 
•Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell is now charged with embezzlement and is accused in court documents of using party funds for personal purchases including a motorhome, and allegedly creating false documentation to disguise those transactions in the SNP’s financial records. 

In summary:
✅ The motorhome did appear in the SNP’s official accounts as an asset. 
❓ But the legitimacy of how it was paid for and recorded — which lies at the heart of the police investigation and criminal charges — is disputed and currently being examined in court.

As I understood it, there was money which was intended to fund a referendum, and if Murrell had used that to buy the motorhome, that could be seen as embezzlement. Even if that were the case, wife or no wife, Nicola Sturgeon should have known that wasn’t acceptable, and acted.
It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.
Time will tell.

It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.

Astonishing in fact!
The job advert for his replacement stated the salary as £95,000 pa, a good salary, but surely a wife would notice if her husband amassed a spare £124,000 to spend on a motorhome? Added to that, tens of thousands on Amazon, B&Q, jewellery (who for) etc.?

I know some partners keep their finances separate but these are quite astonishing amounts for someone on that kind of salary.

Perhaps he won the Lottery or on the Premium Bonds 🤔

Given that the salary is very unlikely to have been reduced this means Murrell would have been paid around the same amount.
Googling returns the following:

On a £95,000 salary, your take home pay will be £65,657.40 after tax and National Insurance. This equates to £5,471.45 per month and £1,262 ..

Allira

^It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.^

Astonishing in fact!
The job advert for his replacement stated the salary as £95,000 pa, a good salary, but surely a wife would notice if her husband amassed a spare £124,000 to spend on a motorhome? Added to that, tens of thousands on Amazon, B&Q, jewellery (who for) etc.?

I know some partners keep their finances separate but these are quite astonishing amounts for someone on that kind of salary.

Perhaps he won the Lottery or on the Premium Bonds 🤔

Did she know he had purchased it then? I know from the news at the time that she never went on a holiday in it, and it was never kept at their home. I expect the truth will out.

Casdon

Allira

It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.

Astonishing in fact!
The job advert for his replacement stated the salary as £95,000 pa, a good salary, but surely a wife would notice if her husband amassed a spare £124,000 to spend on a motorhome? Added to that, tens of thousands on Amazon, B&Q, jewellery (who for) etc.?

I know some partners keep their finances separate but these are quite astonishing amounts for someone on that kind of salary.

Perhaps he won the Lottery or on the Premium Bonds 🤔

Did she know he had purchased it then? I know from the news at the time that she never went on a holiday in it, and it was never kept at their home. I expect the truth will out.

I did wonder if she knew but then Daddima said
The situation is complicated, not just a case of a motorhome appearing and the couple using it to enjoy weekends away, with Murrell saying he had bought it with his own money.
And I assume she knows more than me about it all.

I just checked on AI to make sure, this is what it says on there:
‘No, there is no evidence that Nicola Sturgeon holidayed in a motorhome. A luxury £110,000 Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome was seized by Police Scotland in April 2023 from her mother-in-law's Fife home as part of an investigation into SNP finances. The vehicle was believed to be an "SNP asset" meant for campaign purposes.’.
I definitely saw it in the media at the time that she hadn’t, I think it must have been part of her defence, but I can’t remember exactly.

Allira

^It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.^

Astonishing in fact!
The job advert for his replacement stated the salary as £95,000 pa, a good salary, but surely a wife would notice if her husband amassed a spare £124,000 to spend on a motorhome? Added to that, tens of thousands on Amazon, B&Q, jewellery (who for) etc.?

I know some partners keep their finances separate but these are quite astonishing amounts for someone on that kind of salary.

Perhaps he won the Lottery or on the Premium Bonds 🤔

But it wasn’t her husband who bought a motorhome with his own money. It was bought by SNP, the expenditure appearing in the party’s accounts, and the motorhome being listed as a party asset in the accounts.
It is definitely not as simple as him taking money from SNP funds and treating himself to a motorhome ( though some of the media do seem to want us to infer that’s what happened ).
I think the falsifying of documents will be a major concrn.

Allira

Aveline

As this case is currently ongoing are we allowed to comment?

Why has it been delayed suddenly?

More charges to come or some to be 'lost'?

The Scottish Parliament Elections are due on May 7th .

The Murrell preliminary court hearing has been moved from February 20 to May 25.

^
March 2021
- Three SNP officials - Edinburgh Lord Provost Frank Ross, Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie - resign from the party's finance and audit committee after being denied sight of the accounts.

Allira

butterandjam

petra

Of course she knew 🤷‍♀️ You would be deaf dumb and blind not to question where all the goodies were coming from.

He kept the campervan parked at his mother's house. Maybe NS never noticed because she didn't get on with MIL?

Oh, I didn't know she had no contact with her mother-in-law.
That might explain it, well some of it, not all.

I should have used "IF" instead of because.

Casdon

Allira

It’s also strange that one person could spend so much money without consulting others.

Astonishing in fact!
The job advert for his replacement stated the salary as £95,000 pa, a good salary, but surely a wife would notice if her husband amassed a spare £124,000 to spend on a motorhome? Added to that, tens of thousands on Amazon, B&Q, jewellery (who for) etc.?

I know some partners keep their finances separate but these are quite astonishing amounts for someone on that kind of salary.

Perhaps he won the Lottery or on the Premium Bonds 🤔

Did she know he had purchased it then? I know from the news at the time that she never went on a holiday in it, and it was never kept at their home. I expect the truth will out.

The entire country knew it had been purchased "by the SNP to use for campaign purposes."

Now tell me that a man who'd just bought a Jaguar to drive, didn't tell his wife .

" it’s also alleged he used £57,500 of SNP cash to pay for the bulk of an £81,000 Jaguar I-Pace motor in autumn 2019.

This charge goes on to say he created a “false invoice” to provide to SNP accountants, leading to “false or inaccurate” information being logged in an “accounting system used by the Scottish National Party in an attempt to disguise the true nature” of the Jag purchase."

and it gets worse

"The car was sold to We Buy Any Car in Glasgow in August 2021, leading to £47,378.76 being paid into Mr Murrell’s personal bank account, the indictment says."