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MURRAY FOOTE: My anger turned to pity watching Peter Murrell in court

"Even if these misfortunes are self-inflicted, I can still feel pity for a man brought down so spectacularly by his own character flaws."

By Murray Foote

June 4 2026, 6:00am

Our emotions are complex. They reflect the delicate balance between the head and the heart, how we manage our reactions to the everyday trials and tribulations of being human.

Watching Peter Murrell’s appearance in court for the reading of the rap sheet and description of how he conducted his sleekit embezzlement, my emotions were conflicted.

The whole affair from start to finish has provoked anger and pity for different people at different times.

Not so long ago Murrell was pictured in the Royal Box at Wimbledon wearing a pair of Montblanc cufflinks we now believe were bought with SNP funds.

On Tuesday, he appeared in a box of a very different kind – the dock of the High Court in Edinburgh – wearing the type of cufflinks that manacled him to a court officer.

What a profound and complete fall from grace.

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell. Image: PA.

My first reaction as he shuffled forwards in handcuffs was a flush of anger. How dare he? How dare he betray everyone and everything he supposedly held dear?

But as the camera framed a close-up of Murrell flanked by court guards, my emotion morphed from anger to pity.

It was due in part to recognising a peculiar facial mannerism of Murrell: when he is under pressure, he continually puckers his lips. Rather than Murrell the embezzler I saw Peter the man with all his human weaknesses.

PETER MURRELL WAS BEWILDERED AND LOST

When the Crown’s Advocate Depute finished reading the astonishing nine-page narrative, the camera panned back to Murrell looking bewildered and lost.

Of course he will deserve the punishment coming to him. The depth of his betrayal dictates a significant custodial sentence will be handed down by the court.

But the ability to understand and share the feelings of sorrow caused by the misfortunes of others are amongst humanity’s finest traits.

Even if these misfortunes are self-inflicted, I can still feel pity for a man brought down so spectacularly by his own character flaws.

I never knew Murrell well, but despite my empathy and compassion, I’ve entirely recalibrated my opinion of him. Then again, given his protracted duplicity, his wife of 15 years is questioning if she ever really knew him, too.

And it would appear he never really knew her either. Perhaps the most telling argument for that was one detail from the court narrative. Shortly after squandering £124,000 of other people’s money on a motorhome that travelled just four miles from new, Murrell bought travel guides for motorhome holidays across Britain and Ireland.

Murray Foote was SNP chief executive after Peter Murrell.

Whatever departure into the happily ever Murrell thought he was planning after he and his wife left politics, one thing is certain – there was never any chance Scotland’s most famous woman of the last decade touring Britain’s caravan sites in a Niemann and Bischoff S-move 7.4e.

Instead, Nicola is left to pick up the pieces of a life thoroughly shattered by the man she believed was her biggest protector.

Again, empathy was the overriding emotion as I watched her BBC interview on Sunday.

My anger at Murrell is nothing compared to the trauma of a wife who has discovered her entire married life was built on betrayal.

NICOLA STURGEON’S EMOTIONAL TURMOIL

This is not a universal opinion, but I believe her emotional turmoil is all too painfully genuine and it is perilously close to overwhelming her.

She is effectively being implicated in a criminal endeavour for having the misfortune to have married the perpetrator. I can’t think of a similar case in criminal history where a wife has been so publicly vilified over the crimes of her spouse.

If she was not a politician who polarises opinions, there would be outcry over her treatment by some of the people leading the onslaught.

I also feel anger at the destructive opportunism of some alleged SNP supporters who have cast themselves as moral crusaders in the noble pursuit of truth when the real truth is that their actions are driven more by bitterness over Sturgeon’s involvement in the Salmond affair.

And more anger is directed at the mendacious opposition parties demanding an inquiry into the SNP’s private finances.

First Minister John Swinney has been under pressure to answer for SNP safeguards. Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

We know how the crimes happened because a five-year, £2 million police inquiry revealed that a dishonest chief executive had the opportunity to embezzle because he was the only person marking his homework.

As John Swinney has recognised, a fundamental flaw was that SNP power was concentrated in one house. You can bet your bottom dollar that will never happen again.

Yet the Opposition pretend an inquiry is essential to restore trust in politics. Gie’s peace. The world and his wife know it’s because they want a parliamentary witch hunt they hope will further damage the SNP.

No inquiry can restore trust when those calling for it are being entirely dishonest about their motives for wanting one.

Their argument collapses under the weight of its own contradictions. And that is pitiful.

"Even if these misfortunes are self-inflicted, I can still feel pity for a man brought down so spectacularly by his own character flaws." Read more: https://ebx.sh/yOMsD1