Peter Murrell will soon be sentenced to a jail term – probably of a few years. Whatever the sentence. the red top tabloids will say that it is not enough. Reporters are even now hunting for embittered donors to put their names to quotes like: “hanging is too good for him”, said Jeanie McDoe 73, “lock him up and throw away the key” fumed Wallace Williams, 17, “Throw him in a deep dungeon where rats will gnaw at his toes. Dungeon should have webcam.” Igor Pushkin, 45 (you’ve gone too far now -ed).
This is a challenging moment for supporters of Scottish independence. There is a lot of anger at Murrell’s crimes, Yet, for many, independence is about having the autonomy to build a better, fairer country. That includes reform of a penal system that puts more people per head away than almost any other country in Europe. We are still keeping thousands of fellow citizens in crumbling, overcrowded, underfunded insitutions that cut them off from society and from any relationships or responsibilities they may have.
Why do we as a society think that spending about £200,000 of public money (for a four yeaar term) putting a non violent 61 year old offender is the best option?
Murrell is not a threat to society. He has lost his job and is unlikely to ever work again, certainly never in a position of trust. He would be an unlikely choice to carry a donation bag at a church service. How should he be dealt with?
Finnish the job
Lesley Riddoch’s recent film about Finland throws a light on the way they have redesigned their justice system. The Finns now rarely jail non-violent offenders. They use fines – tailored to the criminal’s income, probation, and community service, all with a strong emphasis on rehabilitation.
A Finnish financial offender like Peter Murrell would have about a one in ten chance of going to jail. If he did, it would be to an open prison where inmates are intentionally kept part of the local community, wearing their own clothes, cooking their own meals and allowed out during the day to work or study. The Finns have lower reoffending rates than we do – perhaps because of this emphaiss on helping poeple to rebuild their lives rather than to further destroy them.
The Green MSP Kate Nevens has been much mocked for arguing that prisons should be abolished. I met her as she was out canvassing in the Holyrood election campaign. She said that while she does accept prison is necessary for people who are a threat to the public, she would like the courts to have more alternatives for people who are not a danger to others. I think she has a point.
Counting the cost
Of course, the anger at what Murrell did is understandable, not just because of the money he stole, but because he has betrayed the movement and his ex wife. Nicola Sturgeon is one of the most significant political leaders Scotland has ever produced. She has inevitabely been dragged into the mess and her reputation traduced.
“He who steals my purse steals trash – but he who filches from my good name robs me of that which not enriches him but makes me poor indeed,” as the poet said.
I find it entirely credible that Sturgeon did not know what Murrell was up to. Sturgeon worked 16-hour days and then relaxed by sticking her nose in a book. The heaping piles of paperbacks she posted on social media tell their own story. I grew up in a family of readers so I can relate.
Scene: the Murrell home, breakfast time: “What do you think of the new salt and pepper shakers?” (Nicola notes page number and glances up) “Oh very nice dear.” (Absent mindedly shakes salt on her cereal while returning to the book).
The Jag? Sturgeon didn’t drive until age 53, so perhaps her car knowledge is like mine. I can tell the difference between a Tesla and a Ford Fiesta – kind of. Many is the time my husband has found me patiently waiting for him – newspaper in hand – next to a car of an entirely different make but the same colour as the one we own. I was always pleased when a kayak was strapped to the roof – because it meant I could find the car in the supermarket car park.
A shameful secret
Murrell cut a lonely figure arriving with his duffel bag to go into custody this week. The people he worked most closely with have been queuing up to denounce him. His mother is 95, and apart from her, he does not appear to have any family. Sturgeon said they did not socialise or go on holiday. If he has any friends they are lying pretty low – literally nobody seems to have a good word to say for him.
Was Murrell in the grip of some kind of compulsion? Did it make him feel powerful? Did it give him a thrill of escitement that pushed down feelings of resnetment or depression? Did he give some of the things he stole as gifts – like the necklace he bought for Sturgeon on Shetland? Did he ever talk anyone about his problem? Perhaps he was too ashamed of it – well everyone knows about it now.
It is a strange list of items – who would have thought that he was bying toilet seats, laundry baskets, curry powder, glue and things like that with party funds? The motorhome is a weird one – if Murrell was intending it for his personal use how could he have ever have done so without revealing its existence to his wife?
Murrell seems to have been secretly stealing from the SNP for many years. Craig Murray (the former diplomat jailed for contempt over the Alex Salmond trial) tweeted that Salmond told him Murrell had stolen £500 from party funds in the 1990s and that Salmond replaced the money because he believed Murrell had issues. The Daily Record has reported similar allegations.
At the same time as using the party’s funds as if they were his own, he seems to have been lending money to it. Had his boundaries become blurred? Did he feel that, like the Louis XIV who said “L’état, c’est moi”, “The SNP is me”?
Thankfully justice, even in Scotland, has moved on since the days of the Sun King, who was of course guillotined, along with many members of his family. “In the good old days we knew how to treat crimes against the people” hissed Robbie Spier, 237 (think you’ve made a mistake here – ed).