Image source, PA

Our live coverage is coming to a close, so here's a recap of what has happened today.

The former SNP chief Peter Murrell has been sentenced to more than five years in jail for embezzling party funds.

Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP, which he used to buy goods ranging from cars to kitchenware and toiletries, between 2010 and 2022.

Judge Lord Young said Murrell's actions amounted to a "significant breach of trust", he was unable to halt his offending and it was only stopped when his criminality was detected.

The judge said Murrell's crime was "calculated and dishonest".

The former SNP chief executive's sentence was reduced from seven years, which would have been imposed if he had been found guilty after a trial.

Murrell's lawyer, John Scullion KC, said he had become a "figure of public ridicule" and was "overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame".

Aamer Anwar, the lawyer for former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she had been "let down by her estranged husband" and remains "angry, hurt and distressed".

Dozens of new images showing the items bought by Peter Murrell using embezzled SNP funds have been released after he was jailed for more than five years.

That's it from us. The editors today were Paul McLaren and Katy Scott. The writers were James Delaney, Claire Thomson, Elliot Burrin and Paul O'Hare. You can read more in our news story.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Image source, Getty Images

The SNP leader and first minister, John Swinney, has said that he will not visit Peter Murrell in prison.

Swinney has indicated that he still does not understand why the former SNP chief executive stole £400,000 from the party.

Asked if he could forgive Murrell, the first minister said that as a matter of his faith he does not believe people should pay for their crimes forever.

Image source, Getty Images

Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry KC described the list of items bought by Murrell as “absolutely disgraceful”.

She told a new BBC documentary, Peter Murrell: The Man with the Money: “I was quite gobsmacked, like most people, by the amount of money spent on the motorhome and the Jaguar, but also the high-end luxury items that were coming into the home and that were being bought.

“Very expensive fountain pens and very expensive coffee machines, stuff that most people couldn't ever hope to afford.”

Cherry, who previously raised concerns about the party’s finances, also said it had never been “adequately explained” why Murrell loaned more than £100,000 to the SNP.

And the former politician also told the BBC that money went missing when Murrell worked in the Peterhead office of late SNP leader Alex Salmond.

Asked what Salmond had told her, Cherry replied: “Just that money had gone missing and that he believed that Peter Murrell had taken the money when he shouldn't have.”

Cherry said there remains many “unanswered questions”.

She added: “It’s not just about the criminality, it's about the culture that allowed that criminality to thrive.”

The source of the money Murrell embezzled was the SNP's main bank account, over which he had control.

As the party’s chief executive he was able to make direct transfers of money from the account. He also had a charge card linked to that account in his name to be used for paying for items required by the party.

As well as his own, he used the charge cards of two other staff members to make purchases.

The party used accounting software to record income and expenditure. Any purchases were recorded within that software under an accounting code which provided a general description of the nature of the spending.

Murrell had access to the system and could log items of expenditure himself or direct another staff member to do so.

Examples of mis-coding included:

• Two purchases from CW Sellors Jura watches using £9,350.25 of SNP funds. Both transactions were recorded on the accounting software as “event merchandise”
• A travel watch roll from Smythson was bought using £332 of SNP funds. It was recorded under the code “staff expenses” and described as ‘Double Tree The Glasgow City Hotel’
• And an OXO Good Grips two-piece silicone egg poacher set on 7 July 2020, bought using £23.98 of SNP funds, was recorded on the accounting software under the code “computer hardware purchases” and described as “Ethernet Cabling”

Image source, Elizabeth Cook/PA Media

Artist Elizabeth Cook captured the moment judge Lord Young sentenced Peter Murrell to five years and three months in prison for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP.

Courtroom sketch artists are rare in any UK courts nowadays, and rarer still in Scotland.

Recent changes in the law meant TV cameras were allowed into the courtroom, albeit with severe restrictions on what they could and could not film.

For example, those watching on the BBC Scotland website and the BBC News Channel were able to see Murrell arrive in the dock, but the camera remained on judge Lord Young while sentencing was delivered.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie says there are still "serious questions which remain about this appalling scandal".

"Such as why Murrell was able to get away with stealing vast sums of money for over a decade and why no-one within the SNP had any curiosity about the state of the party’s finances," she says.

Baillie accuses John Swinney and the SNP of having shamelessly tried to sweep this under the carpet by stubbornly refusing to accept that a parliamentary inquiry could help get to the bottom of these issues.

“If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear from an inquiry."

She says "Swinney's deflection and evasion" confirms the SNP is still a party which fosters a culture of secrecy and cover-up.

Prosecutors considered 516 witness statements and a vast volume of documentary and digital material.

The Standard Prosecution Report (SPR) contained a single charge of embezzlement but within the charge there were hundreds of potentially criminal purchases.

For each prosecutors required evidence that SNP funds had been used; documentation showing what had been bought; the retailer involved; and accounting material capable of showing how the purchase had been recorded within SNP finances.

Further work was also required to establish the earliest criminal transactions and the full value of the embezzlement.

Murrell’s phone was also examined by Police Scotland’s cybercrime unit to assess whether it contained evidence relevant to the case.

Evidence also had to be obtained from overseas retailers through International Letters of Request.

The final report ran to 542 pages and set out the evidence in detail.

Image source, Getty Images

On 5 April 2023 police launched a day of action which resulted in Murrell’s arrest.

It also saw simultaneous raids on his home in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire and SNP headquarters in Edinburgh city centre.

In her memoir Frankly, Nicola Sturgeon recalled her estranged husband getting up after their doorbell went at about 07:00.

She wrote: "It was with a sense of utter disbelief that I realised the police were in my home, that they had a warrant to arrest my husband and search the house."

Orders were obtained during the investigation to secure material held by banking institutions in Scotland and England, retailers in England, HMRC and organisations holding SNP accounting information.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston told a BBC documentary, Peter Murrell: The Man with the Money, that his officers erected a tent in Murrell’s front garden to shield items from the media.

He said: “We suspected there were items that we would recover within there that you couldn't put into a bag and walk out the door with.”

As a result, a van was backed into the tent so items could be loaded into the vehicle without being seen.

ACC Houston said the move protected the integrity of the investigation.

He also confirmed that the motorhome was traced at Murrell’s mother’s home as it was registered at that address and insured for “social, domestic and commuting purposes”.

Image source, Reuters

Murrell purchased more than 1,000 items over a 12-year period with SNP money.

A number of items were seized when police raided his home in April 2023.

It is worth noting that some of those items were perishable – such as coffee beans – while others are believed to have been gifts.

It is understood the SNP handed back around 20 items from party HQ when the scandal broke, such as luxury pens.

It is separately understood that Sturgeon has not yet been asked to hand back any items she was gifted.

One of the most memorable purchases – Lalique salt and pepper grinders priced at £2,618 – remains unaccounted for.

The police investigation was initially looking into fraud, but as experts ploughed through thousands of transactions, the first red flags started to appear.

It is understood these concerned the purchase of Le Creuset products, including mugs, ramekins, a wine carafe and bottle stopper.

At a time when the party’s finances were lower than normal, the luxury cookware products stood out.

Officers then discovered the items had been mis-coded in the party’s accounts.

This breakthrough helped shift the focus of the inquiry from fraud to embezzlement.

Image source, PA Media

Peter Murrell has left the High Court in Edinburgh in the back of a prison van.

The white van with the branding of prison transport firm GeoAmey on the side pulled out of the garage underneath the court just after 11:30 on Tuesday.

Turning left up Bank Street into bright sunshine, it headed towards George IV Bridge before disappearing from view.

Last month Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC she feels like she is "serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit".

In an exclusive interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Sturgeon refused to apologise for the scandal and struggled to hold back tears, recalling gifts from Murrell that turned out to have been purchased with stolen money.

Sturgeon said: "I am not responsible for the crimes that my former husband committed and I'm not going to apologise for somebody else's crimes."

She has consistently denied any knowledge of Murrell's wrongdoing, committed between 2010 and 2022.

Read more here.

Image source, COPFS

Much has been made of the now-infamous motorhome being parked at Murrell’s mother's then home in Dunfermline.

The £124,000 luxury Niessman and Bischoff motorhome was driven just four miles from Rosyth, before being stored on the driveway.

In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg last month Nicola Sturgeon said she had no "conscious memory" of ever seeing the luxury vehicle.

She said it was "round the sides of the house which is not immediately visible in the way that we went into the home" and "between the house and the next door neighbour's".

Sturgeon told Kuenssberg if she had seen the motorhome she would "probably have assumed it was a neighbour's", adding: "Why would it have crossed my mind that it was the SNP's?"

It is understood Sturgeon’s position remains the same.

The vehicle is now in a Police Scotland car park in Glasgow after being seized during Operation Branchform.

John Brady first met Peter Murrell when they were pupils at Craigmount High School in Edinburgh.

The pair were also in the Boys Brigade, where they got to know future first minister John Swinney.

Murrell had an interest in the independence movement and joined the SNP in his teens.

Brady told a BBC documentary, Peter Murrell: The Man with the Money, that his friend was a talented organiser and said his future role as party chief executive was a “natural fit”.

He said Murrell was an introvert and had “a personality type that lent itself to being in the background”.

Brady didn’t believe the allegations facing Murrell when they were first reported.

He said: “I couldn't, I couldn't, in my wildest dreams, have thought that would happen."

Brady said he was shocked when Murrell pleaded guilty and believes there must be some reason for his behaviour.

He added: “This wasn’t the Peter that I first knew.”

What will happen at the proceeds of crime hearing?published at 11:24 BST

11:24 BST

David Henderson
Scotland news correspondent, at the High Court in Edinburgh

Peter Murrell is heading back to jail but he faces further punishment in the coming months.

And for someone who clearly enjoyed money and the trappings it brought, this could be very painful for him.

He embezzled over £400,000 from the SNP, while he ran its political machine.

So he has profited from this crime. Now he will have to hand over the money to the authorities.

Murrell's proceeds of crime hearing is set to take place on 14 September.

The judge has sweeping powers to confiscate all the funds that Murrell took. This would mean the money goes to the state, to reflect the multi-million pound cost to taxpayers of Operation Branchform.

Or Lord Young could choose to make a compensation order - which would return all the embezzled funds to the victim in this case - the SNP. That's what first minister John Swinney is seeking.

If there's a confiscation order, the SNP would have to sue Murrell for what he owes them.

The courts have already frozen more than £600,000 which belongs to Murrell - two private pension funds and his half share of the family home he shared with Nicola Sturgeon.

So there's plenty of funds to sieze.

Whatever happens, Murrell looks set to lose most - if not all - of his wealth, along with his liberty.

And when he emerges from prison in a few years time, he'll have little or no spare money to spend in retirement.

It's a grim punishment - like something from a work of literature. The greedy man who ends up with next to nothing.

Katie Hunter
BBC Scotland reporter at the High Court in Edinburgh

Peter Murrell is now waiting inside the High Court in Edinburgh for a van to take him back to prison.

As with his arrival, dozens of reporters and camera crews are waiting outside the back of the court.

This is a busy tourist area and some people have been stopping to ask what’s going on here today.

Prosecutors have released 55 images from the investigation into Murrell's embezzlement.

They include new pictures of the £124,550 motorhome parked outside his mother's then home, as well as close-up looks at the luxury bags, watches and pens that Murrell bought illegally.

The pictures were taken by Police Scotland during Operation Branchform, its long-running investigation into the fraud, and shared by prosecutors now the case has concluded.

You can view them here, or search through all the images by using the interactive table below.

The pictures have been separated into seven different categories.

Police Scotland has released clips of officers questioning Peter Murrell following his original arrest.

Detectives ask Murrell what he will say to those who question why SNP cash reserves are so low.

They suggest to Murrell that £19,000 spent on luxury pens alone is an “outrageous amount of money” and ask why the SNP needs to spend that amount of money on luxury pens.

He is also asked if he created a false invoice in order to put the purchase of a Jaguar car through the party’s books as another item.

To each question, Murrell gives the same reply: “No comment”.

Image source, Jeff Overs/BBC

Nicola Sturgeon has released a statement through her lawyer Aamer Anwar, after her estranged husband Peter Murrell was sentenced earlier this morning.

Anwar says Sturgeon remains "angry, hurt and distressed" about the devastating impact of Murrell’s actions on her, his family, friends and the SNP.

The lawyer adds that Sturgeon was deceived and let down by her husband whom she had trusted, and "utterly appalled" by his actions and will never understand why he acted as he did.

The former first minister also "finds it disgraceful and beyond outrageous" that she is being asked to comment on so-called "background" briefings by the police or Crown Office, according to Anwar.

He says: "Whilst anonymous sources have desperately tried to insinuate guilt, it is clear following a two-year gold-plated and robust investigation, Ms Sturgeon was neither charged, prosecuted nor convicted of any offence.

"Ms Sturgeon is innocent of any crime and whilst that might be a source of annoyance for some, it remains a fact that it was Mr Murrell who was charged, tried, convicted and imprisoned for his crimes today."