GUILTY PLEASURE

Politics expert says admission before poll would have risked pro-indy majority

- PAUL HUTCHEON

PETER Murrell's crimes being exposed before the Holyrood elections would have had a “major impact" on the result, a leading political expert has claimed.

Professor James Mitchell said an April conviction would “certainly” have risked the SNP and Green pro-independence majority.

Labour figures now want any parliamentary inquiry into Murrell’s embezzlement of SNP funds to look at the timing of his post-election plea.

Murrell, the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, is facing a stiff jail sentence after stealing more than £400,000 of SNP cash as party chief executive.

He pled guilty on May 25 - days after an election that saw the SNP secure a historic fifth term.

An earlier court hearing before the election, where Murrell could have pleaded guilty, was continued “for legal reasons”.

The police probe that led to the conviction lasted five years and Murrell told his lawyers in March to explore a guilty plea.