Lord Advocate gave John Swinney information on Peter Murrell case 10 months ago, papers show

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain informed John Swinney about the charge facing ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell 10 months ago, documents show.

A cache of internal papers sent from Bain to the first minister has been made public. They show that Bain wrote to Swinney in March 2025, telling him that Murrell had been charged with embezzling around £460,000 from the SNP between 2010 and 2023.

Prior to the publication of the documents, it had been thought that the Scottish Government learned the sum in January. The earlier memo also includes notice that neither Nicola Sturgeon nor former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie, both of whom had also been questioned, had been reported to the procurator fiscal.

Murrell, who is Sturgeon’s estranged husband, has not yet entered a plea or declaration on the charge and a preliminary hearing is expected to take place in May.

The latest disclosure of documents follows an appearance by Bain in parliament, where she was questioned by MSPs about her dual role as the country’s chief prosecutor and principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government.

She told MSPs she sent the January note to inform Swinney about Murrell’s indictment and to remind the government not to comment on live proceedings. She further stated that she is not involved in the case.

Bain denied giving the government political advantage or overstepping the boundaries of her role in the face of criticism from Labour and Tory benches, with calls for her to resign. Lib Dem and Green members said they did not believe claims of corruption against Bain, whose role is written into the Scotland Act underpinning devolution.

MSPs wanted to know how many times the lord advocate had provided information on criminal charges to the government, and what those cases involved.

The documents show messages were sent to both Scottish and UK governments around 30 times over 30 years. They include updates on the Lockerbie case, the Glasgow Airport terror attack, the Glasgow bin lorry crash and the death of Sheku Bayoh.

Other files relate to the deaths of William Lindsay and Katie Allan at Polmont Young Offenders Institution and the Park Inn hotel attack.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said the disclosure showed that Bain had acted in accordance with her duties.

In a letter to Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, Bain said she had acted to provide “factual confirmation of a matter on which there had been substantial publicity and speculation in the media during the police investigation”.

However, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said Bain “must return to parliament and give a full statement and straight answers to many outstanding questions”.

He added: “And this surely sounds the death knell for the lord advocate’s dual role.”

Scottish Labour depute leader Jackie Baillie said: “The people of Scotland deserve transparency from our government and they need to know that all criminal cases are handled impartially and without political interference.

“The lord advocate must explain why she told John Swinney information that the Crown Office refused to make public and well before any indictment was concluded.”

The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.