Coffee machines, fountain pens and Grand Theft Auto: How Murrell spent the money

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party between August 2010 and October 2022.

He used the money to buy luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome, but also low-cost items such as chopsticks and hand cream.

Take a look at where he spent it and what on.

Fifa, Grand Theft Auto and Pac-Man - the gaming purchases

Murrell appeared to have an affection for purchasing video gaming items, with almost £2,000 spent on equipment over a 10-year period.

That began on 10 November 2010, when Murrell paid £247.42 on a Sony PlayStation 3 console.

Just over a month later, on 13 December, he purchased a Nintendo DSI XL for £149.99.

The following year, Murrell bought a Nintendo 3DS handheld console on 23 November. Four days later, three other 3DS consoles were bought for a combined total of £349.35.

During this period, Murrell also began buying games. Fifa 12 was bought for the 3DS alongside Pac-Man and Galaga and The Sims 3 Pets.

In 2013, Murrell bought Fifa 14 and Battlefield 4 for the Xbox 360, and in 2014, Fifa 15 Ultimate Edition.

Murrell also bought Grand Theft Auto V, made by Scotland-based game studio Rockstar, for the PlayStation 4.

Further gaming purchases included a £50 Turtle Beach gaming headset, an Xbox One console, bought for £297.14 in 2015, and a Nintendo Switch, which cost £279.99 in 2017.

He also spent more than £1,800 at John Lewis on an iPad Pro and Apple magic keyboard in September 2020.

Coffee machines, roasted beans and instant Nescafe

Murrell used SNP finances to purchase a number of high-end coffee machines and luxury coffee beans.

The schedule of items includes a Miele CM 6300 machine on 24 November 2014, which cost £1,299.

Then on 1 February 2017 he used £1,865.75 of party money on a Jura bean to coffee machine.

And on 10 October 2018 he invested in a Jura Z8 fully automatic bean to cup coffee machine, which cost £2,595.

The schedule shows Murrell purchased Portuguese coffee beans on a number of occasions.

In May 2017 he spent £84.95 on five packs of gourmet beans and £123.91 on five packs of roasted beans.

Murrell also bought traditional instant coffee with SNP cash, including 2kg of Nescafe Gold Blend in May 2018 for £81.16.

But aside from the machines and coffee itself, there is an assortment of related paraphernalia.

A manual espresso maker was bought for £141.07 in February 2017.

In August 2017, £660.80 was spent on a Jura glass coffee cup warmer, six Jura espresso cups and a stainless steel milk pipe, which attaches to a coffee machine.

And a few months later, in November of that year, £354.70 was shelled out on an assortment of Le Creuset espresso and cappuccino mugs in the space of just four days.

Luxury watches, vanity bureau and jewellery box

While the Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome gathers dust in a Police Scotland impound lot, Murrell is also revealed to have made several other luxury purchases with embezzled funds.

In May and June of 2017, he purchased two Bremont World Timer Alt 1 watches in white and black for £4,555.25 and £4,795 respectively.

A further £4,225 was spent on a Montblanc Starwalker World Time fountain pen in March of that year, one of a number of pens purchased for four-figure amounts.

Among those are a Montblanc meisterstück moon pearl – a modern version of the pen used by Roger Moore's James Bond in the 1983 film Octopussy – and two special Beatles editions designed by the same company.

A £3,500 hand chased wine coaster in Britannia silver, designed by Edinburgh-based jewellers' Hamilton and Inches was purchased a week before Christmas in 2017.

Meanwhile, in May 2021, Murrell spent £3,192 on a black tea set and vanity bureau designed by leather maker Frank Smythson – which holds a royal warrant to provide stationery for the Duke of Edinburgh.

A £2,495 jewellery box and two tote bags in navy and burgundy were purchased from the same firm for a total of £1,116.

Lalique salt and pepper grinders priced at £2,618.16 were bought in January 2020.

The motorhome, the Jag and the VW Golf

In 2016, Murrell bought a new 16-plate Volkswagen Golf for £32,989 from the Western Volkswagen dealership in Newbridge, just outside Edinburgh.

During the Operation Branchform probe, Police Scotland found £16,489 from SNP coffers had been used to make up the full amount.

Three years later, between September and November of 2019, Murrell bought a second vehicle – a Jaguar I-Pace - for £81,277 from another dealership in Edinburgh.

He partly paid for it using SNP funds, creating a false invoice for £57,500 which was submitted to the SNP's auditors, Johnston Carmichael, which was then, in turn, inserted into an accounting system used by the SNP.

In August 2021, Murrell sold the vehicle to buying service WeBuyAnyCar.com in Glasgow for £47,378.76, which went into his personal bank account.

The investigation also found that, between October and November 2020, Murrell bought a luxury Niesmann and Bischoff Smove 7.4e motorhome from a dealership in Stafford, England for £124,550.

Murrell used an SNP credit card to make the initial £12,500 down payment on the vehicle between 14 and 27 October.

On 7 December, he used an SNP bank account to pay the outstanding £112,050 balance, creating false documentation purporting to be from the dealership to SNP staff for accounting purposes.

Court documents show a motorhome steering wheel lock and wheel clamp were bought for £168 in February of 2021.

The motorhome was stored at the home of Murrell's mother until 5 April 2023, the same day Murrell was arrested, when it was seized by Police Scotland as part of the probe.

It is now parked at a Police Scotland compound in the Govan area of Glasgow.

Hand cream, Sherlock Holmes DVD and a onesie

Among the luxury purchases, Murrell also bought a number of everyday devices and gadgets, ranging from a Karcher pressure washer (£469.95) to a Dyson V8 Cordless vacuum (£469.99).

DVD series of Sherlock Holmes (£26.97), The Killing (£60), and seasons 1-3 of Danish political drama Borgen (£51.75) - which Nicola Sturgeon publicly said she was a fan of - were also purchased.

Items of clothing bought included Berghaus jackets (£236.95 and £163.98 respectively), about a dozen Gant shirts, Timberland shoes (£100), and a men's "slouch pouch onesie" (£75.55).

Helly Hansen was another favourite, with Murrell buying a number of items including a Sulphur Expedition Parka (£700).

Other assorted purchases included a Caran d'Ache pencil sharpener (£110), a PerfectDraft starter kit (£174) alongside kegs of Jupiler, Leffe and Stella Artois, a GoPro camera (£479), a Royal Mint Scottish silver unicorn coin (£795), and three Davek Savile umbrellas (£975).

At the other end of the scale, he bought two Neutrogena hand creams (£2.50) as part of a larger purchase, a bottle of Loctite super glue (£3.50), and curry sauce paste (£11.99).