Nicola Sturgeon says Peter Murrell put her 'in considerable peril' and vows not to 'hide away' as he admits £400,000 embezzlement

By OLIVIA KEMP, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 17:56, 29 May 2026 | Updated: 17:56, 29 May 2026 Nicola Sturgeon has revealed her estranged husband Peter Murrell put her 'in considerable peril’ as she vowed not to 'hide away' after the former SNP chief executive's guilty plea. The former first minister insisted she had ‘done nothing wrong’ after Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP, and claimed she had been unfairly targeted in the fallout from the scandal. The extraordinary monologue came less than 24 hours after Ms Sturgeon declined to answer reporters’ questions at a book festival in Ireland, where she described the scandal as the ‘worst week’ of her life. Speaking at Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, she said: ‘It’s not been the easiest of weeks, it’s fair to say. I did describe it yesterday and I think it’s certainly a fair thing to say that it has been the worst week of my life. ‘I’ve had some tough weeks in the past, both in my personal life and also as first minister. COVID was a pretty rough ride for any leader and for everybody, but I think this week has surpassed all of it.’ On Monday, Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022 and was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing next month. Reflecting on the guilty plea, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘It’s a deeply painful thing personally to come to terms with and I’m only in the foothills coming to terms with the fact that the person I was married to for a long time is somebody that I clearly didn’t know as well as I thought I did. Somebody who deceived me, lied to me and put me in considerable peril.’ The former first minister also hit out at what she suggested was a rush to blame her for her former husband’s crimes. Nicola Sturgeon revealed she felt 'betrayed' by Peter Murrell Nicola Sturgeon with her now estranged husband Peter Murrell back in 2017 She said: ‘I went through, and this was excruciating, a two-year police investigation at the end of which I was completely cleared and exonerated of any wrongdoing. ‘I have had my ups and downs and had more than my fair share of mistakes, I know, but I don’t think that somehow justifies suddenly finding myself, by some people, not by everybody by a long shot, vilified by the actions of others. ‘I’m determined to carry on. I’ve done nothing wrong, so I am not going to hide away, and that’s why I am here.’ Ms Sturgeon also said she intends to ‘speak more about this in the days and weeks to come.’ She added: ‘‘I do not think it is fair that I get held responsible for the crimes of somebody else, particularly when I’ve been cleared by a lengthy police investigation. ‘I want to openly answer any questions people have of me because I have done nothing wrong.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.