Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s appearance in court on embezzlement charges has been postponed until after the Scottish election.
Mr Murrell, who is the estranged husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, was due to appear at a preliminary hearing at High Court in Glasgow next Friday, 20 February.
It will now take place in Edinburgh on 25 May, 18 days after voters head to polling stations.
Mr Murrell was charged in April 2024 as part of Operation Branchform, an investigation launched in July 2021 into missing SNP funds. He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March last year and was granted bail.
He is accused of embezzling £459,046.49 of party funds. He has not entered a plea.
As part of police enquiries the home of Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon was search, as was the SNP’s party headquarters.
The former First Minister and the party’s former treasurer Colin Beattie were arrested, questioned and released in April 2023 and will not face any charges.
Mr Murrell was chief executive of the SNP for more than 20 years until he stood down in 2023.
The couple announced in January last year that they were to divorce.
Salmond case underwritten by businessman and drummer
Alex Salmond’s £3 million compensation case against the Scottish government will proceed after the legal action was underwritten by multimillionaire businessman and drummer Paul McManus.
The court case had been at risk of collapse after it emerged that the former first minister died with less than £2,500 to his name and debts of nearly £350,000.
His widow, Moira, has assigned the legal rights of the case to Mr McManus, the drummer from the Glasgow rock band Gun, who will sue the government.
Mr Salmond had previously accused senior government figures, including his protégée Nicola Sturgeon and the former senior civil servant Leslie Evans, of “misfeasance” in relation to complaints made against him by two civil servants during his time in Bute House.
Work has been progressing for several months led by solicitor advocate Professor Peter Watson of PBW Law and partners Michael McKitrick and Pamela Rodgers.
Jack Irvine, executive chairman of PR agency Media House International, was instrumental in bringing the participants together.
Media House and Mr Irvine will continue to support the case, and he will be assisted by his senior consultant, former Scotsman editor and Edinburgh councillor, John McLellan.
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