Sturgeon says she's endured 'worst week of my life' after estranged husband's guilty plea

Nicola Sturgeon has spoken in public for the first time since her estranged husband's conviction for embezzlement, saying: "This has been probably the worst week of my life."

On Monday, Peter Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the Scottish National Pary (SNP) while the party's chief executive.

The 61-year-old used the funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, which included luxury goods such as a £4,225 fountain pen, salt and pepper grinders costing £2,618, a £3,231 coffee machine, and a £124,550 state-of-the-art motorhome.

Speaking at Listowel Writers' Week in County Kerry, Ireland, the former first minister said: "This has been probably the worst week of my life, and you know the last few years have had some tough ones for me, but this one, I think, surpasses all of them.

"You're coming to terms with the fact that you spent many years - I spent many years - married to somebody that, as it turns out, I obviously didn't know at all.

"It's a really painful truth to process, and I think I'm only in the very early stages of processing it.

"And then, to be in a position of such public turmoil myself, makes that even harder."

Ms Sturgeon, who married Murrell in 2010 before announcing their separation last year, was arrested as part of Police Scotland's Operation Branchform - a probe into the SNP's funding and finances.

She was later told by the force she would face no further action following direction from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Read more:
Operation Branchform: The downfall of Peter Murrell
Sturgeon defends 'no comment' stance in interview

Ms Sturgeon has continually denied any wrongdoing, and said that she was "completely exonerated" and "totally cleared" after a "very forensic" police investigation.

However, while speaking at the event about her memoir Frankly, Ms Sturgeon said: "That doesn't stop, this week, many people pointing the finger of suspicion at me all over again, and trying to hold me responsible for somebody else's crimes and having to go through that in a very, very public way.

"So, it's really hard, and I think it will take me some time to properly come to terms with all of that."

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Ms Sturgeon gave a "no comment" interview to detectives following her arrest.

She said that this was on the advice of her lawyer, and she "fully co-operated with the police" by later submitting a "detailed written response" to the questions put to her.

The ex-MSP said she understood that people would be asking "how could she not have known?"

She added: "And, I think, underlying that question, there is a big misassumption, which is that I knew anything about it, or that I knew all about it.

"You know, I think, everybody assumes that all of this stuff that it turns out now my former husband was buying, I knew about it, and I just didn't question who paid for it.

"As recently as Monday, I was reading about things in the newspapers for the first time that I've never seen, I didn't know about it.

"It wasn't just that I didn't question where it came from - I've never seen it."

Ms Sturgeon said she did not question how Murrell was able to purchase some of the items as they were both on "high salaries" with no children.

She added: "I was doing a job - and this is another factor - I was doing a job that had me working around the clock, away from home a lot of the time.

"Maybe this doesn't reflect well on me. I didn't spend a lot of time in my kitchen - spend any time in my kitchen - but I would never question that some of these things he was buying that I was aware of he couldn't have afforded, because, on the basis of our incomes, he could have afforded it."

Ms Sturgeon said she was coming to terms with the fact that she had been "deceived".

The former SNP leader added: "I've been misled, I've been lied to, and I've been betrayed - and I will not be the first... and I won't be the last woman that's being betrayed by her husband."

Ms Sturgeon joked to the audience: "I probably need to sit with a therapist - it's a long-winded way of saying I'm not okay, I will be okay.

"I'm a strong, resilient person."

Murrell was remanded in custody, and will be sentenced next month.

(c) Sky News 2026: Sturgeon says she's endured 'worst week of my life' after estranged