FORMER SNP chief executive Peter Murrell is due to return to court for a further hearing, after he pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party last week.
Murrell will appear at the High Court in Edinburgh, where prosecutors will outline the facts of the case.
Judge Lord Young will hear the prosecution “narrative” when the case calls on Tuesday.
Sentencing of the 61-year-old, who is former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s ex-husband, is due to take place later in June.
On Monday last week he admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
Court papers revealed a lengthy list of items he bought with the embezzled money, including a space telescope, DVDs, a home library ladder worth more than £900 and a coffee machine worth nearly £3232.
Two cars and a £124,550 motorhome were also among the purchases.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
The former SNP leader said she has been “completely exonerated” after a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation” which saw police officers search the home she and Murrell had shared.
Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which was known as Operation Branchform, but Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.
At the weekend, the former first minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme she feels like she is “serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit”.
Murrell’s guilty plea has also led to calls for an independent investigation into the SNP’s finances.
Former first minister Jack McConnell has said a joint inquiry by both Holyrood and Westminster committees should examine Murrell’s embezzlement.
Shadow Scottish secretary Andrew Bowie has called on Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee to initiate an inquiry.
However current SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney has said there is no need for such an inquiry, emphasising the detailed nature of the police investigation.
He said last week: “The police investigation has led to a criminal case.
“There has been a prosecution and there has been a guilty plea and there will be sentencing taking place as a consequence.
“So, all these issues have been looked at.
“We know what the problem was – the problem was criminal behaviour and the police have identified that and the individual involved has been prosecuted.”
