Peter Murrell granted legal aid over embezzlement charge
Legal aid is typically granted to people who cannot afford to pay for legal help themselves, though in some cases they still need to make their own contribution.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board said Mr Murrell's lawyers made a successful application for support on 30 April, but no payments had yet been issued.A spokesperson said: "When assessing an applicant's eligibility for legal aid we look at their financial position at the time of their application. "This includes information they give us about their salary, the amount of money they have in the bank and any investments, which might be available to fund their own defence privately."Peter Murrell's application met the tests we have to apply when deciding whether to grant legal aid."
Mr Murrell was chief executive of the SNP for more than 20 years until he stood down in 2023 during the party leadership race to succeed Sturgeon.It came after the home they shared was searched by police looking into what happened to £660,000 of donations given to the party.It was part of an investigation, called Operation Branchform, that lasted almost four years.Mr Murrell was charged in April last year then appeared in court in March.In March, police also confirmed that Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were no longer under investigation in the probe.At the time, Sturgeon said: "I don't think there was ever a scrap of evidence that I had done anything wrong."In January this year, the former first minister announced she and Murrell had "decided to end" their marriage.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘I was constantly scared of what she was going to do': the troubled life and shocking death of Immy Nunn
Just a few hours before she ended her life, Immy Nunn seemed happy. She and her mother, Louise, had been shopping and had lunch. It was the final day of 2022 and Immy, who was 25, appeared positive about the new year. She talked about taking her driving test and looking for a new flat. She was excited about the opportunities her profile on TikTok was bringing her; known as Deaf Immy, she had nearly 800,000 followers, attracted by her honest and often funny videos about her deafness and her mental health. By the early hours of the next morning, Immy was dead, having taken poison she bought online, almost certainly after discovering it through an online pro-suicide forum. On a sunny day, kitchen doors open to the garden, Louise sits at her table; every so often she glances at the photographs of her daughter. Immy's assistance dog, Whitney, now lives with her parents, and wanders around, stopping occasionally to be stroked. Louise describes these last couple of years as: 'Hell. Horrible.' The pain of losing her child, she says, 'you wouldn't wish on anyone'. She copes, she says, 'day by day. I struggle with a lot of things. I don't like doing a lot.' For the previous 10 years, Louise had been on high alert, always terrified something would happen to her daughter. Since she was about 14, Immy had periods of severe mental illness. She had self-harmed, and attempted suicide many times, and for four years she had been an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital. She had spent the Christmas of 2022 at her parents' home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, then gone back to her flat in Brighton. On 29 December, she had cut herself and gone to hospital – as far as her family knew, it was the first time she had self-harmed in ages. Immy's dad, Ray, went straight to see her and tried to get her to come home with him, but she told him she wanted to stay, and that she had an appointment with one of her support workers the following day. On 31 December, Louise and Ray went to spend the day with her in Brighton. They returned to Bognor Regis with Whitney because Immy was going to a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house in nearby Shoreham-by-Sea. Louise was woken about 5am by the mother of Immy's friend calling to say Immy had left unexpectedly, and without her coat and shoes. They had known Immy since she was a child, and were aware of her mental health problems. Louise phoned the police straight away and kept trying to ring Immy; Ray went out to look for their daughter, eventually driving to her flat in Brighton. When he arrived, the police and an ambulance were already there. Immy's devastated family is one of several that appear in a two-part Channel 4 documentary, Poisoned: Killer in the Post. It is based on an investigation by the Times journalist James Beal, which started after he was contacted by David Parfett, whose son Tom also died after taking a substance he bought online. The documentary shows the impact on vulnerable people of a pro-suicide forum where methods were discussed, including signposting to a Canadian chef, Kenneth Law, who Canadian police believe shipped about 1,200 packages of poison around the world. In the UK, the National Crime Agency has identified 97 potential victims. Law is awaiting trial in Canada, charged with 14 counts of murder – the dead were in the Ontario area and between the ages of 16 and 36 – but is pleading not guilty. About five months after Immy's death, the police told Louise and Ray that they had been given a list of names of British people linked to Law, and Immy was on it. They were doing checks, Louise says the police told her, to see who on the list was still alive. Louise would like to see Law extradited to the UK, though she knows this is unlikely. For a decade, she and her family went through heartbreaking effort to try to keep Immy safe. 'And then it's someone online. You fear the man on the corner, don't you, but not the man you can't see?' And she would like to see more regulation of sites that can be harmful to vulnerable people. 'The [government] are allowing them; no one's stopping them from doing it.' The site Immy is believed to have accessed is now under investigation by Ofcom; as of 1 July, the site was no longer accessible to people in the UK. A journalist had showed Louise the site, and she was shocked at how accessible it was. 'It wasn't even on the dark web,' she says. 'I was just shocked that something like that is just there. How is it even allowed?' Vulnerable people who are struggling understandably might want to find others who are feeling the same, but the site encourages and facilitates suicide – methods are discussed and tips swapped, and the 'goodbye' posts are met with congratulatory messages. As for Law, Louise says: 'I hate him. Hate the sound of his name, hate seeing his face.' Immy was always a fighter, Louise says. She had been born six weeks early and spent her first couple of weeks in hospital. The fourth of her five children, Immy had siblings who doted on her. 'She was just beautiful,' Louise says of Immy as a baby. 'She was so good and happy; everything about her was just perfect.' The family found out that Immy was profoundly deaf when she was 18 months old, though Louise suspected it already (one of her older children also has hearing loss, though not to the extent Immy did). Having a child with additional needs meant they spent a lot of time together. When Immy was three, she had cochlear implants, which involved trips to Great Ormond Street hospital in London every few weeks. She was happy at school, Louise remembers. It was a mainstream school but with a unit for the several deaf children there at the time. Then, when Immy was about 13, Louise noticed a change in her. Some of her deaf friends had left, and Immy stopped seeing other friends. 'You just thought: 'Typical teenager', until one day I saw cuts on her legs and I realised that there was something going on,' says Louise. She had been running away from school, and was clearly unhappy there. She had an appointment with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services but refused to go, then took her first overdose shortly before she turned 15. 'I thought she was dead at that point,' says Louise. 'Reality hits – this is really serious.' The National Deaf Children's Society helped Louise advocate for Immy at school, and find her a place at a leading school for deaf children, but it took a while, and Immy's mental health was deteriorating. After school one day, Louise could hear her in the bathroom and became worried about what she was doing, but couldn't get her to come out. Immy's older sister went in and found she had cut her arm badly. 'I just remember her face and her saying, 'Mum, you need to get her to hospital straight away.' I was constantly scared of what she was going to do.' There were other suicide attempts. Ray is a roofer and Louise had worked part-time in a shop, around looking after the children, but she gave that up to be there for Immy. 'If she was at home, you wouldn't leave her for second,' she says. Immy was in and out of children's mental health units and then got a place in a unit for deaf children in London. 'We would go up two, three times a week to visit and she was doing really well, but she could only stay there until she was 18,' says Louise. Once Immy was discharged, Louise says there was no follow-up care and she was instead put on unfamiliar medication, which she had a terrible reaction to. 'We ended up right back where we were. She was in her room smashing things over her head, blood everywhere.' The following year, Immy was back in psychiatric hospital, where she would be for the next four years. The family hoped it would be the start of Immy getting better, but it was also, says Louise, 'four years of hell. We just didn't know when you were going to get a phone call.' On the weekends she was allowed home, Louise would sleep in her room with her 'because I was so scared of what she'd get up and do'. Immy had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, PTSD and other conditions including depression and anxiety. There were periods when she was well and she seemed happy; she had a girlfriend for a while. 'She'd have really good days; you'd be able to go on holiday and have fun times. But you just never knew when her mind was going to suddenly hurt herself, and she didn't know. That was the scary thing. She'd just dissociate.' Starting a TikTok account in 2020 helped her, Louise says. 'It took her mind off things. Obviously, she was still really poorly. She'd have her good days and bad days. But I think because of the followers that grew, she felt she could help other people. As her followers grew, her confidence grew, and I think she felt as if she'd finally found something that she could do.' It helped her embrace the deaf and LGBTQ+ communities and gave her a sense of identity. 'She felt as if she belonged, whereas she never really knew where she belonged.' Immy showed her followers what life in a psychiatric hospital was like, and was open about her struggles. But she could also be joyful, and often got her family involved, usually her mum. 'You'd be sat in the evenings, and she'd say, 'Mum: I've got an idea – I want you to be in it.' I loved watching her laugh.' Immy was getting brand and charity collaborations, and positive messages from people who said she'd helped them. 'She just couldn't believe it, and we were just so excited for her,' says Louise. She was desperate to try to live more independently, even though Louise thought she wasn't ready to leave hospital. 'She was determined. She'd been in there for four years; she wanted out, she wanted a normal life.' It was a worry, she says, having Immy live an hour away in Brighton, and she would video-call her often – again and again if she didn't pick up. 'She didn't want me to keep worrying. She was like, 'Mum: I'm 24 – let me have my life.'' And she seemed to be doing well, though Louise could never relax. Early in 2022, Immy took an overdose. Nine months after that, in November, she told her support worker she had been on a pro-suicide forum and had bought poison from it. Louise didn't know about this until just before the inquest. The police went to do a welfare check on Immy, but didn't take a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter – something Louise was familiar with in all the years of trying to get Immy the care she needed. She would go to see doctors with her, she says, and there would be no interpreter. Louise would have to accompany Immy, even when Immy didn't want her to, so that she could explain things to her. After that police visit, Immy wasn't seen by a mental health professional for several weeks. A few days after Christmas with her parents, Immy harmed herself and went to hospital but left before being seen by the mental health team. She told her parents that she'd been in hospital, and Ray immediately went to see her. 'We didn't know how bad she was,' says Louise. 'The plan was that he was going to bring her home, but she said she wasn't coming back.' Of course they were alarmed, but sadly this wasn't out of the ordinary for Immy. 'She self-harmed a lot. That was her coping mechanism. We had no clue that anything else was going on.' Immy had sent a text to her support worker, saying she thought she needed to be admitted to psychiatric hospital and that she 'could easily go to the last resort' even though she didn't want to. In another message to her psychologist the following day, she said she planned to take poison, but also said she didn't have any (she did – it was later discovered she had already bought some online). She agreed to be admitted to a mental health crisis facility, but that didn't happen that day. A meeting that she was supposed to have with her care coordinator also didn't happen. The inquest found failings in mental health care contributed to Immy's death. The coroner also highlighted systemic challenges to deaf patients, particularly the shortage of BSL interpreters. With grim irony, the inquest itself had to be adjourned at one point because of a lack of interpreters. Louise says the family has received no apology. The trial of Law isn't due to start until early next year, and he has been charged only over deaths in Canada. She says she feels stuck. 'I always feel as if I'm waiting for the next thing. It's just hard.' She likes to talk about Immy, but she finds it hard to watch her videos. 'The dogs start crying when they hear her voice, especially Whitney – she still recognises Immy's voice, and then that upsets me.' There are some lovely videos of Immy and her mum together, including the two of them singing and signing You Are My Sunshine – the first song, Immy wrote, that her mum taught her with sign language. She touched a lot of people in her short life. It has helped to receive messages from people who were helped by Immy's videos and her work on deaf awareness and mental health, says Louise. 'I've had some that said: 'She basically saved my life.'' Poisoned: Killer in the Post is on Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 July For more information on online safety for young people, visit the Thomas William Parfett Foundation and the Molly Rose Foundation In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
The Herald Scotland
44 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotch whisky industry sailing through choppy waters
The Trump tariffs landed as distillers were dealing with an almighty hangover from a post-Covid boom. Demand for premium Scotch whisky cooled as economic conditions deteriorated in key markets such as China, the US and Latin America, leaving importers with surpluses of stock to work through. Geopolitical turbulence, with Russia continuing its assault on Ukraine, attacks on shipping in the Mediterranean, and conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has done nothing for consumers' thirst for the water of life either. The impact of these challenges has been writ large in recent results from major industry players. In June, Bruichladdich owner Remy Cointreau cited the volatile global economic and geopolitical backdrop as it scrapped a key long-term target, highlighting the effects of tariffs both in US and anti-dumping duties in China, a major market for the company's Cognac exports. That came shortly after Johnnie Walker Diageo warned in May that US tariffs may hit its profits by $150 million a year. Pernod Ricard, owner of Dumbarton-based Chivas Brothers, cited the fall-out from US tariffs in April as sales fell short of forecasts in the third quarter. Given this background, it was no surprise that Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) was blunt in its assessment when asked to comment on the trading outlook by The Herald Business HQ Monthly, with the industry body also highlighting the impact on distillers from the high cost of production. Read more: 'What we're seeing right now is a once-in-a-generation set of challenges facing the Scotch whisky industry,' a spokesperson for the SWA said. 'Businesses of all sizes, but particularly SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), are operating under considerable strain as input costs have risen, from increased raw material and energy prices to the rise in employment costs. Consumer spending is also being impacted, the impact of which is being felt across the supply chain and hospitality sector. 'On the international stage, the key markets relied upon by smaller and medium sized companies to establish their business – the UK, the EU, and the US – are all facing their own unique obstacles which have put up barriers to trade and access. The US is our most valuable market, and is vital for many companies as they establish their export portfolio. 'It's important that talks continue between governments on both sides to reduce the current 10% the tariff burden for Scotch in the US. In the EU, we are monitoring developments on the new UK-EU deal to understand how the Scotch whisky industry can benefit.' With the impact of tariffs imposed during the first Trump president still fresh in their minds – the 25% tariff on single malt is believed to have hit exports by £650 million - Scotch whisky distillers are reporting disruption in the US market. Some distillers are changing their approach to the US, which remains the sector's biggest market by value. The value of Scotch shipped to the US was measured at £971 million in 2024. (Image: GlenAllachie) Billy Walker of GlenAllachie is upbeat about the industry's prospects in Vietnam 'The immediate term impact has been confusion and uncertainty over the tariffs leading to our distributors being very cautious,' said Ian Palmer, founder and chairman of InchDairnie Distillery in Fife. 'In the long term, there will be price increases for the US consumer leading to a loss of volume and that will be more evident at the 'value' end of the market. 'The more premium end will be better placed to ride out the storm. Our brands, our Scottish rye whisky, RyeLaw, and our recently launched peated malt, KinGlassie, are both at the premium end. At present we are managing both our costs and our price point, as well as preparing to be flexible. 'Historically, the US has always been seen as solid and safe market. This has gone now, so we are looking to manage the risk by ensuring we have a good geographic spread for our brands.' The uncertainty which has arisen from the Trump tariffs was also highlighted Martin Murray, co-owner and founder of Thurso-based Dunnet Bay Distillers. 'It's a real challenge for us,' he said: 'We'd set out a plan for 2025 with market visits and investment, but that has been significantly impacted by the US tariffs. It feels like we're living week to week and that's not good for anyone in the supply chain. The possibility of [tariffs] rising to 25% would have a big impact on sales and investment in this market. As a result, we've changed our strategy to be investing in sales in Asia. Our sales in China are going well in a market that still has challenges post-Covid.' Commenting more generally on the outlook, Mr Murray added: 'Currently, it certainly feels very turbulent, but there is an underlying resilient demand. We're braced for a challenging period, whilst things come back into balance. At the moment it feels like it's perfect storm of economic headwinds, trade policy uncertainty and changing behaviours. 'The biggest threats are tariffs in the US, and the impact on increasing costs in hospitality in the UK. For us we see the opportunities as being the continued trend of premiumisation and emerging markets.' Scotch whisky veteran Billy Walker, owner of the GlenAllachie Distillery in Speyside, said he is working in partnership with its US importers to spread the cost of tariffs on both parties. Read more: Mr Walker, who before acquiring GlenAllachie had built up and sold the BenRiach Distillery Company and previously worked for Ballantine's, Inver House, and Burn Stewart, said: 'We're trying to mitigate [the tariff] by taking 50% of it on us. So from an importer's point of view, they are going to be confronted with a 5% [cost increase]. 'But on a general position, these tariffs are going to be more damaging than the previous ones, because the previous ones were only on single malt. These are on all Scotch whisky.' Asked if there was any hope of the US tariffs on UK goods being reduced, Mr Walker said the SWA, which represents the industry in government matters, was doing a 'terrific job with the appropriate political people in the UK to find a way to mitigate them, or to get them reduced or removed'. But he said: 'I don't think they are going to get them wholly removed… it would be really welcome if they disappeared completely, but I don't think that is likely in the short-term.' Despite the challenges on the immediate horizon across the Atlantic, distillers emphasised the importance of the US market to the industry's prospects in the long run. Richard Urquhart, sales director at Elgin-based Gordon & MacPhail, owner of the Benromach and The Cairn distilleries in the north of Scotland, said the importance of the US to the company and the wider industry 'hasn't changed despite the imposition of tariffs'. Mr Urquhart said: 'While these tariffs have undoubtedly introduced added complexity and cost pressures, we remain committed to the market and to our American consumers and we will continue to work closely with our in-market partners to minimise impact. 'In terms of strategy, we will continue to navigate the changing environment. It's not about pulling back, it's about adapting. We remain focused on delivering exceptional whisky experiences, regardless of the trading climate.' For some distillers, it is a case of as you were. William Dobbie, managing director of R&B Distillers, owner of Isle of Raasay Distillery, said that US tariffs 'present a bit of short-term but are manageable together with our import partners'. He told The Herald Business HQ Monthly: 'The tariff on UK goods is not as punitive as some other regions in the world, which is manageable for now. The US tariffs are not changing our strategy at all. In fact, we are investing in the US market and plan to have some boots on the ground there over the next 12 to 24 months. 'Our independent, private ownership means we can take a very long-term point of view and allow us to make decisions that will put the business in a strong place long after the challenging short-term market conditions we are experiencing. If we changed our business plans at every whim of the current US administration we would be changing them every week, which is not something we have a desire or need to do.' Read more: Away from the US, distillers' hopes of building sales in the burgeoning spirits market of India received a major boost recently. The UK-India trade deal, which followed years of negotiations between the two countries, halved tariffs on imports of whisky and gin to India from 150% to 75%. The tariffs will then be reduced to 40% by the 10th year of the agreement. 'The UK-India trade deal is genuinely transformational for the Scotch whisky industry,' said Mr Murray at Dunnet Bay Distillers. 'Reducing tariffs from 150% to 75% immediately, and to 40% by year ten, opens unprecedented opportunities in what's already the world's largest whisky market by volume. 'Industry experts estimate this could increase Scotch exports to India by £1 billion annually, while generating £3.4bn in additional tax revenue for the Indian government through increased sales. For new distilleries like Castletown Mill, this is particularly significant because the deal enables smaller and independent producers to access the Indian market for the first time. 'India's growing middle class of over 300 million people represents a massive opportunity for premium spirits with authentic heritage stories. We've just got to be patient as we start our distillation of whisky this year.' Other markets are emerging strongly for the industry. Mr Walker highlighted the potential of a range of markets in Asia for Scotch whisky, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, and singled out Vietnam as one to watch. Describing Vietnamese people as 'hard-working, energetic, and entrepreneurial', Mr Walker said: 'There's money to be spent there. I can see Vietnam becoming a huge holiday area in the next few years because it has such a wonderful coastline with remarkably decent infrastructure. 'And they are knowledgeable, they are not novices when it comes to Scotch whisky.' Mr Palmer also highlighted the potential of Asia for the industry. He acknowledged Asia and South America are 'not immune' to the current economic and trade uncertainty, but forecast that 'Asian markets will probably come out of the mist sooner than other markets'. Mr Murray added: 'We're finding challenges in most markets at present. The recovery post pandemic has not materialised and we're still seeing consumer spending habits changing. There are signs of a recovery with orders coming in regularly from China.' While there has been a steady flow of new distillery openings in Scotland over the last couple of decades, the current conditions may lead potential developers to think twice about investing in new facilities for Scotch whisky production in the current climate. Mr Palmer believes there is currently 'plenty' of distilling capacity, 'so any new distillery will have to have a long-term funding plan in place and develop a product that brings something new to the marketplace'. He added: 'I don't think more of the same will work in the current economic environment.' Mr Murray was slightly more optimistic on this front, noting: 'I believe there is still scope for new distilleries to open. I believe the traditional route to market is going to be less important as direct digital marketing and sales give new distilleries access to a significant audience willing to pay for premium products. 'Emerging markets have the place to play in supporting new distilleries' sales in the long term.'
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
New front door to House of Lords cost £9.6m... but doesn't work
A former spending watchdog has been asked to investigate after a new front door was installed at the House of Lords that cost nearly £10m and does not work. A security officer had to be permanently stationed at the door to press a button to open it, which one peer calculated was costing £2,500 each week. It also emerged the cost of the work spiralled by nearly 60% from the original estimate of £6.1m. The Lord Speaker has now written to independent crossbencher Lord Morse, who led the National Audit Office for a decade, to investigate the £9.6m door debacle. In his letter, Lord McFall of Alcluith, who chairs the House of Lords Commission that oversees the running of the site, said: "The commission identified that it was unclear how many issues were due to manufacturing and installation failures and how many were due to issues with the initial identification of requirements and subsequent need for alterations. "Additional information will be needed to understand the failures, including information on costs - both how the initial project figure of £6.1m was arrived at and the increase to the current total of £9.6m, and any unanticipated additional costs such as increased staffing to manage and operate the entrance. "It will be important to assess the quality of the decision-making in establishing the project and the ways in which the evidence provided for the specifications of the new entrance were tested to ensure they took account of user requirements." He added: "The problems that have arisen around delivery of the new entrance pose larger questions about effective programme delivery, including capability within parliamentary departments." Speaking at Westminster, senior deputy speaker Lord Gardiner of Kimble, who also sits on the commission, said: "It is unacceptable that the Peers' Entrance does not operate as it should. The commission has directed urgent work to resolve this." He added: "The cost to remedy defects will not be borne by the House and will be met by Parliament's contractors." Former Tory minister Lord Robathan said: "I do not hold the senior deputy speaker responsible for this scandal, but it is a scandalous waste of public money." Demanding to know who was responsible "by name", he said: "It is now nearly £10m for a door that does not work. Somebody accountable should be identified and should perhaps resign for this terrible waste of public money." Tory peer Lord Hayward said: "The senior deputy speaker told us the total cost, but the staff manning that door, calculated on the written answer he provided to me, are costing £2,500 per week. That cost has to be borne by someone." In response, Lord Gardiner said: "On the issue of the number of people involved in the manual use of the door while it is being repaired and made usable, I am assured that they are within the existing complement of members of staff."
