EDINBURGH — Peter Murrell received a sentence of five years and three months in jail after admitting to embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National Party (SNP). He carried out the theft over a 12-year period while serving as the party's chief executive.

Murrell was sentenced in the high court in Edinburgh, where Lord Young presided over the proceedings. The sentence was backdated to his guilty plea on May 25. Lord Young stated he could find no satisfactory explanation for Murrell's actions, despite a criminal social work report based on interviews with him. "Let me make it clear to you, one factor in the sentence I impose today will be to act as a deterrent to any senior officials in other large organisations who might be tempted to abuse their position in the way you did," Lord Young said.

Murrell concealed the theft of £400,315.65 by entering false accounting codes in the SNP's accounts and submitting falsified invoices. He used the embezzled funds to acquire a luxury motorhome, a Jaguar SUV, Montblanc pens, luxury watches, Lalique salt and pepper grinders, and two kilograms of coffee granules. Murrell informed the author of the social work report that he found it impossible to stop his embezzlement until his arrest.

John Scullion KC, Murrell's defense lawyer, informed the court that Murrell accepted full responsibility for his crimes. Scullion confirmed that Murrell possessed sufficient personal funds to repay the £400,310.65 he stole from the SNP under a criminal confiscation order. A hearing on the criminal confiscation order was postponed by Lord Young until mid-September. Had Murrell pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial, he would have faced a seven-year jail sentence.