The questions raised by the Peter Murrell embezzlement controversy

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. The questions raised by the Peter Murrell embezzlement controversy51 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleGlenn CampbellScotland political editorReutersPeter Murrell was chief executive of the SNP for 24 yearsThis embezzlement case has been hanging over the SNP like a toxic cloud since the police investigation began five years ago. SNP strategists believe the controversy corroded trust in the party and cost them a significant amount of support. They may just have been returned to government but the party is much less popular than it was at the last election.

Peter Murrell is not the first high profile political figure to end up before the criminal courts in Scotland but you would struggle to find such a vivid case. Who can forget the police pitching their blue forensics tent in the garden of the house he shared with his wife Nicola Sturgeon (from whom he is now separated)? The place looked like a murder scene even if the tent was only to prevent prying eyes seeing what officers were removing from the property.

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Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling £400,000 in party fundsFormer SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling party fundsThere was a simultaneous search of SNP headquarters in Edinburgh and the confiscation of the now infamous motorhome from the Fife driveway of Murrell's mother. It all felt more like a TV drama script than news or documentary. There were some in SNP circles who thought the police had seriously overstepped and would eventually face a reckoning.

I suspect Murrell's admission of guilt will make that go away. PA MediaA blue tent was pitched outside the home he shared with SturgeonThe intrigue in this case is not just about Murrell's position of power as a long-serving chief executive of the SNP. His proximity to Sturgeon raises further questions as does the proximity of the police activity to her standing down as first minister.

The police moved just seven weeks after she announced her resignation and about a week after she officially left office. At the news conference she held to say she was going, I asked if she had been or expected to be interviewed by police investigating the SNP's finances. She curtly replied that she would not comment on an ongoing investigation and left the room.

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Moments later, I was advised by her team that the answer to my question was "no". PA MediaSturgeon was asked about the police investigation into SNP finances when she held a press conference to announce she was stepping down as first minister. Since then Sturgeon has repeatedly said that the police investigation, known as Operation Branchform, was not a factor in her decision to stand down.

In the course of the investigation, she was arrested, questioned and released without charge. The same happened with the former SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie. When the police subsequently charged Murrell with embezzlement, they made clear that no further action would be taken with Sturgeon or Beattie.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.