FORMER SNP chief Peter Murrell left Edinburgh High Court in handcuffs today after it heard how he embezzled £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period.

Prosecutors detailed how Nicola Sturgeon’s ex-husband made 383 purchases from Amazon using SNP charge cards.

The 61-year-old used the party’s bank account to buy a motorhome for £124,550 in 2020, which had just four miles on the clock when it was seized three years later at his mother’s house.

Murrell, who left the High Court in Edinburgh in a prison van, also recorded the purchase of two watches, using £9,350 of SNP funds, as “event merchandise” and faces a lengthy prison term when he returns to court for sentencing on June 23.

The court was also told about a robotic lawnmower which was purchased by Murrell for £3,070. This was misdescribed as “legal fees” in the SNP’s accounting software.

A silver wine coaster worth £3,500 was described as “leadership expenses.”

Reading out the prosecution narrative this morning, Alan Cameron KC said that the funds in the SNP’s party bank account came mainly from “membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies.”

Murrell falsified accounting records and created fake invoices in a bid to cover up his wrongdoing as he racked up purchases that included the motorhome and thousands of pounds of luxury stationery, he said.

The court heard one of the vehicles included a Volkswagen Golf car, which was later sold and the proceeds used towards buying a Jaguar I-Pace worth more than £81,000.

The advocate depute said a false invoice was created for this, submitting the claim as “stage payment” for SNP events “and that it had related to a planned national tour of key communicators from the party which had had to be postponed for various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Murrell’s guilty plea last week has led to intense scrutiny against his former wife Ms Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes, saying she had been “deceived, misled and betrayed.”

The former SNP leader was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances before Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.

There are also calls for an independent investigation into the SNP’s finances.