This is Murrell’s chance to explain himselfpublished at 09:20 BST
09:20 BST
David Henderson
Scotland news correspondent, at the High Court in Edinburgh
What’s most striking about the Crown’s account of
Murrell’s crimes is his sheer doggedness — the cynical calculation and deceit
that ran right through his actions.
It lays bare how he exploited his trusted access to the
SNP’s books to line his own pockets by just about every route available: credit
cards, party charge cards, and straight transfers of cash.
That perhaps goes some way to explaining how the party’s
auditors, its officials, and even his estranged wife Nicola Sturgeon seemingly
failed to notice what he was up to over so many years.
He fed bogus figures into the accounts, passing off the
money he was siphoning away as run-of-the-mill party spending. It was
convincing enough key people, often enough, to let him make off with more than
£400,000.
So it’s clear how he committed these crimes.
But “why” is anything but clear.
He still hasn’t accounted for himself, and the Crown
narrative offers no clue.
Murrell has had the chance to explain his actions through
the background report prepared by social workers to help the court decide on
sentence.
And his defence counsel may offer some explanation at
this hearing.
But Murrell may choose to say nothing, and leave the
court and the rest of us to guess his motives.