POLICE are facing questions over their decision to erect a forensic tent in Nicola Sturgeon’s front garden when her husband was arrested – with one former police officer calling the move unusual.
The dramatic scene unfolded in April when former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell arrested at his home amid the ongoing police investigation into the party’s finances.
Police officers swarmed their home near Glasgow and put up a forensic tent in the couple’s front garden.
The structures are usually put up at the scene of violent crimes and one former police officer – now an SNP MP – said he had never seen one used while officers were investigating alleged financial crimes.
Allan Dorans, the SNP MP for Ayr, served as a police officer in London from 1972 to 1987.
READ MORE: First Minister rejects claims of police and media collusion in SNP probe
He told The National: “In my 15-year career as a police officer in the Metropolitan Police, I never knew any occasions where a tent was erected during the search of premises in relation to the investigation of a case of alleged financial crime.”
It comes after we revealed the cost of the criminal investigation into the SNP now outweighed the sum at the heart of the questions facing the party.
The police probe was sparked by questions around whether the party had appropriately spent £600,000 earmarked for an independence referendum campaign.
To date, the police have spent in excess of £700,000, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request shared with this paper.
Gordon Jackson, a retired Royal Bank of Scotland employee, shared the information he received from Police Scotland.
He said police had questions to answer about the investigation and suggested the dramatic scenes outside the first minister’s house earlier this year were unnecessary.
In his Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland, Jackson asked how many tents, gazeboes or temporary structures had been erected at the scene of alleged financial crimes since 2021.
The force said it did not hold the information requested, adding: “By way of explanation, Police Scotland do not collate information in this format.”
Jackson said: “The blue tent that appeared in people’s front gardens – have you ever seen them?
READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch: Sturgeon is gone, and now the SNP members must take back their party
"Did you see them outside Ibrox, for example, when they were investigating the financial shenanigans there, which they blatantly made a complete mess off because it’s cost them £26 million in costs.
“They don’t do that."
It was reported in November last year the cost to the taxpayer of the Rangers wrongful prosecution scandal now stood at £50m, according to the Crown Office.
Jackson added: “That was a statement by Police Scotland about what they were doing. It was not in the public interest.”
It comes after SNP MSP James Dornan suggested police had colluded with the media to ensure their raid on Sturgeon and Murrell’s home was noticed.
He told The News Agents podcast: “The fact that the police and the media seem to have some kind of collusion about making sure the media are in attendance when the slightest thing happens, it’s like Fred West’s house, when they come to look for a paper trial.”
Police previously said the accusations were “untrue”.
Asked about Dornan’s comments by journalists at Holyrood on Thursday, SNP leader Humza Yousaf said: “I don’t believe that.”
Sturgeon and Murrell, as well as former party treasurer Colin Beattie have all been arrested and questioned by police as suspects in their investigation but so far all have been released without charge.
Speaking at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority board in May, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, the head of Police Scotland, chided politicians for casting aspersions on the probe.
“I would request, I would urge, all civic leaders – if offering any comment or thoughts on what is a live investigation, to act with prudence and responsibility,” he said before Sturgeon was arrested.
“Wholly inaccurate assertions and uninformed speculation will only serve to damage justice, infringe the rights of individuals and undermine the rule of law.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel