Scotland’s top civil servant was notified about the arrest of Peter Murrell, the husband of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, shortly after it occurred, as stated in an email. The email, sent by John-Paul Marks, the Scottish government’s permanent secretary, to First Minister Humza Yousaf, reveals that Chief Constable Iain Livingstone contacted Mr Marks at 08:00 on April 5, informing him of Mr Murrell’s custody. The police had arrived at the Glasgow residence of Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon around 25 minutes earlier, with a police press release later being issued at approximately 09:30am.
The email, released by the Scottish government under freedom of information laws, discloses that Mr Marks viewed it as routine for Chief Constable Livingstone to keep him informed about significant Police Scotland (PS) activities. In the email, Mr Marks informed Mr Yousaf that the suspect had been arrested and taken into custody for questioning under caution, following a prior agreement with the Crown Office. He noted that he had informed Mr Yousaf after the arrest had occurred, as per routine, with explicit permission from the Chief Constable. Mr Marks further stated that any communication regarding Operation Branchform, the investigation into SNP finances, should solely be through him, as decided with the Chief Constable.
This revelation comes amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the SNP’s finances. The investigation, initiated due to concerns about the use of £660,000 in donations to the party by activists, is currently examining the funding and finances of the SNP. The arrests of Mr Murrell, Mr Beattie (then-SNP treasurer), and Ms Sturgeon themselves on June 11 have been central to this investigation. However, all three individuals were subsequently released without charge, pending further inquiry.
Interestingly, in an additional email sent immediately after the arrest of Mr Beattie on April 18, Mr Marks once again informed the First Minister about the arrest that had already been made public in a police press release, following advice from the Chief Constable.
The revelations in these emails challenge previous claims by Ms Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf that they had no prior knowledge of the arrests. Chief Constable Livingstone had previously vehemently denied allegations that the Scottish government had been apprised of the arrests beforehand.
