Nicola Sturgeon: Top prosecutor refuses to say if search of former first minister’s home was ‘deliberately delayed’ until after she left office
The head of Scotland’s prosecution service has refused to say whether a search warrant for Nicola Sturgeon’s home was “deliberately delayed” until after the SNP leadership contest ended.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, who leads the Crown Office, was questioned by Sky News after it emerged her organisation was made aware of a police request to raid the former first minister’s home two weeks before it was given the green light.
The SNP‘s headquarters in Edinburgh was also raided by detectives.
According to a Freedom of Information request first published in The Sun newspaper, Police Scotland asked prosecutors to sign off the warrants on 20 March – which was one week before Humza Yousaf became SNP leader.
The go-ahead was not officially given until 3 April.
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Search on Sturgeon’s home ends
The Lord Advocate is the most senior law officer in Scotland and sits in the Scottish government cabinet as chief legal adviser.
Sky News approached Ms Bain as she departed Tuesday morning’s cabinet with First Minister Humza Yousaf.
She did not reply when asked if the Crown Office “deliberately” delayed issuing warrants until after the SNP contest and entered her car when asked if she personally was aware of developments in the case.
Sky News’ Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies approaching Dorothy Bain in Edinburgh
The Crown Office said it received a “draft warrant” before it was “finalised” on 3 April.
A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “In all matters, Scotland’s prosecutors act independently of political pressure or interference.
“It is standard that any case regarding politicians is dealt with by prosecutors without the involvement of the Lord Advocate or Solicitor General.
“COPFS understand the interest in this case but to protect the fair administration of justice we urge restraint in public comment.”
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I had ‘no prior knowledge’ of raid
‘Revelation will raise eyebrows across Scotland’
Scottish Conservative MSP Russell Findlay said: “There appears to be no evidence of any undue influence or interference in this process.
“However, the lack of answers to these questions only serves to fuel public concerns about the decision-making taking place behind closed doors.
“The whole murky saga brings into sharp focus the untenable dual role of the Lord Advocate, both as head of the prosecution service and the Scottish government’s most senior lawyer with a place at the cabinet table.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This is a very interesting revelation that will lead to raised eyebrows across Scotland.
“Whilst I accept that the Lord Advocate may not have had a direct influence on the timing, this story underlines why we need to have a serious discussion in Scotland about separating the role of the Lord Advocate to ensure that there is no perception of conflict of interest can ever occur.”
Ms Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, former chief executive of the SNP
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Long-standing SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was arrested and later released without charge pending further investigations amid the probe.
A £100,000 luxury motorhome was removed from the home of Mr Murrell’s elderly mother in Fife.
SNP stalwart Colin Beattie quit as party treasurer hours after he was arrested and released as part of the same investigation.
Police Scotland say the probe, dubbed Operation Branchform, continues.
Spain is to legalise about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year – at a time that many European countries are seeking to limit or deter migration.
The policy, approved on Tuesday by Spain’s left-wing minority coalition government, aims to tackle the country’s ageing workforce and low birthrate.
Around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year are needed to maintain the country’s welfare state, according to migration minister Elma Saiz.
The scheme, due to run from May next year until 2027, will allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency.
The exact number of foreigners living in Spain without documentation is unclear.
However, around 54,000 undocumented migrants reached Spain so far this year by sea or land, according to government figures.
Many arrive via the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located off the coast of northwestern Africa.
Spain’s minister of inclusion, social security and migration, Elma Saiz. Pic: AP
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The figure compares to the 30,000 people who have arrived in the UK via small boats across the Channel so far in 2024.
The UK, as well as other European nations, including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, have in recent years taken tougher stances on migration.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
However, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a way to combat the country’s low birthrate.
The government’s new policy simplifies the administrative processes for short and long-term visas and provides migrants with additional workplace protections.
It also extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year.
Many migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers, or other low-paid jobs.
Migration minister Ms Saiz said the government’s new policy would help prevent abuse and “serve to combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights”.
World
Alec Baldwin’s Rust premieres three years after fatal shooting – but cinematographer’s mother refuses to attend
Alec Baldwin’s Western film Rust has premiered at a festival in Poland, three years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set.
The movie debuted at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, an event focusing on achievements in cinematography, to an audience of a few hundred – a more low-key affair than the typical fanfare of Hollywood releases.
Director Joel Souza, who was wounded in the shooting, said he hoped the completed film would now be a tribute to Ms Hutchins – who died after a prop gun held by Baldwin went off during filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021.
Rust director Joel Souza attended the film’s premiere in Poland. Pic: Reuters
Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and went on trial in July – but the case was dismissed in dramatic fashion during the hearing after the prosecution was accused of concealing ammunition evidence.
The star did not attend the premiere in Poland.
Speaking beforehand, Souza said it “wasn’t an easy decision by any means” to continue the film after Hutchins’s death, “but it became important to me and important to her husband that people see her final work”.
The church scene they were working on when Hutchins was shot has gone from the film, he said.
“It doesn’t exist anymore. We were never going to finish that… I changed the script and so I wiped that out of it.”
Cinematographer’s mother criticises Baldwin
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Pic: Swen Studios/Handout via Reuters
Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who completed the film, also attended the event.
Ms Hutchins’s mother Olga Solovey, who has filed a lawsuit against Baldwin, did not attend and criticised the star for allegedly “unjustly” profiting from the tragedy.
In a statement issued by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, she said she had always hoped to watch her daughter’s “work come alive on screen” alongside her.
However, this opportunity was “ripped away”, she said.
Ms Solovey said Baldwin had not apologised to her and that her pain was increased by his “refusal to take responsibility”. She said there had been “no justice” for her daughter.
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Rust’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez, who was in charge of weapons on the set, was jailed for 18 months earlier this year, after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter during a trial separate to Baldwin’s. She is appealing the sentence.
Rust is billed as the story of a 13-year-old boy who, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents’ deaths in 1880s Wyoming, goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after being sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
The Polish festival’s ticketing website reportedly crashed on Tuesday morning due to high demand for tickets to the world premiere.
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