Police had to wait two weeks from the moment they requested a search warrant for the house of the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, as well as the headquarters of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Edinburgh.
The police made the warrant request to the Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service (COPFS) on March 20. The warrant was granted two weeks later, on April 3.
During these two weeks, the SNP leadership battle following Sturgeon’s resignation on Feb. 15 saw Humza Yousaf win and form a new government.
The warrant to search Sturgeon’s house came as part of the investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP, where Murrell served as chief executive officer.
Murrell resigned from his post on March 18 and was arrested on April 5 when officers—having received the warrant—searched his home in Glasgow. On the same day, they carried out searches at the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.
A luxury motor home was seized by police from outside a property in Dunfermline on the same morning that Murrell was arrested.
‘Political Considerations’
The two-week delay to grant the search warrant has prompted criticism among Scottish politicians who voiced concerns over the possible “political considerations” behind the wait.Former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill called for a judge-led inquiry into the role of the COPFS.
“These are matters of the utmost gravity and seriousness with huge implications for the functioning of our legal system and our democracy,” MacAskill said in a statement on May 16.
“As Justice Secretary I was involved in changes to expedite the warrant process. Delays then were due to bureaucracy and IT systems. I never envisaged that police investigations might be delayed by what appears to be political considerations.
“That is why I am today calling for a judge led inquiry into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in order to restore trust and confidence in this vital institution and to reassure the public that the decisions taken by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have not been influenced by political considerations.
“Furthermore we must have absolute clarity that there has not been and will not be any outside and undue interference in the democratic process,” MacAskill said.
He also voiced a concern shared by the Scottish Conservatives and Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, over the role of Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain, KC, who heads the Crown Office but is also a Scottish government minister.
“While I accept that the Lord Advocate may not have had a direct influence on the timing, this story underlines why we need to have a serious discussion about separating the role of the Lord Advocate to ensure that no perception of conflict of interest can ever occur,” Baillie said.
MacAskill suggested that these matters “can best be addressed through the separation of powers between the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service and the Government currently vested in the Lord Advocate.”
“This is something which I have consistently called for, and indeed I led a Debate on this matter, in the House of Commons in July 2021. However the public cannot wait for that to happen which is why we need an inquiry now!” he added.
The Scottish Conservatives have suggested that “this whole murky saga brings into focus the untenable dual role of the Lord Advocate as head of the prosecution service and the Scottish government’s lawyer.”
In a Twitter post the party stressed the importance of making any issues about timings and procedures clear to the public.
Among SNP resignations in connection with the police investigation into the SNP’s finances was Colin Beattie, the former party’s treasurer. He was arrested on April 18 and later released without charge “pending further investigation.”
Speaking outside her home and in public for the first time since her husband was questioned about the party’s financial affairs, Sturgeon said she will fully cooperate with the police investigation but there was nothing she could say about the ongoing investigation.
