SNP arrest emails released by Scottish government
- Published
Peter Murrell was arrested at the home he shares with Ms Sturgeon at 07:35 on 5 April
Scotland's top civil servant was told about the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon's husband shortly after it happened, according to an email.
The email says John-Paul Marks was contacted by the chief constable at 08:00 on 5 April and told that Peter Murrell had been taken into custody.
Officers had arrived at the Glasgow home of Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon about 25 minutes earlier.
A police press release announcing the arrest was issued at about 09:30.
The email, which was sent by Mr Marks to First Minister Humza Yousaf at 09:20 that morning, has been released by the Scottish government under freedom of information laws.
In it, Mr Marks tells Mr Yousaf that it was "routine" for Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone to inform him of all high-profile Police Scotland (PS) action.
He wrote: "The Chief Constable (CC) contacted me at 8am this morning to update on Operation Branchform.
"Following agreement with the Crown Office, PS have arrested a suspect and taken him into custody to be interviewed under caution.
"I informed you after the event and after this PS action had occurred as is routine, with the explicit permission of the CC.
"In terms of any and all liaison from SG (Scottish government) Ministers or senior SG officials on Operation Branchform, I have agreed with the CC that this should be via me only without exception".
Nicola Sturgeon has said she had no prior warning that her husband Peter Murrell was to be arrested
Mr Marks is the Scottish government's permanent secretary - its most senior civil servant.
A subsequent email was sent by him to the first minister shortly after the arrest of then-SNP treasurer Colin Beattie on 18 April.
Mr Marks again wrote that he formally informed Mr Yousaf of the arrest after it had happened, on the advice of the chief constable.
The email was sent at 09:02, just minutes after the arrest of Mr Beattie had been made public in a police press release.
Both Mr Murrell and Mr Beattie were subsequently released without charge pending further investigation, as was Ms Sturgeon following her arrest on 11 June.
The ongoing Operation Branchform investigation is examining the funding and finances of the SNP, and was launched in response to concerns about what happened to £660,000 of money that was donated to the party by activists.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf have both previously said they had no prior warning in advance of the arrests, with Sir Iain Livingstone saying last month that any suggestion the government had been told before the arrests were made was "absolutely outrageous".