The Return of The Rat; former SNP MP Natalie McGarry yet appears again at Glasgow Sheriff Court accused of stealing more than £25k from multiple pro-independence groups, toxic McGarry, has entered a not guilty plea to all charges, her previous trial judge Paul Crozier said her fraud and deceit had been of the "most serious kind" given the position of trust she had been in, McGarry back in Court on 11th November

Dear All

The long running saga is back, and I am not talking about Mousetrap in London!

Former SNP MP Natalie McGarry is back in Court. McGarry is accused of stealing more than £25,000 from pro-independence groups. In her first trial, the highlights were McGarry pleading guilty, McGarry getting the jail, McGarry using the defence of being mentally ill, and who could fail to forget the court verdict being quashed.

McGarry only spent a few days in jail before being released from her 18 month sentence.

As a victim of Natalie McGarry, I was like many, disappointed that she was out walking the streets. I saw this as justice denied given she had plead guilty. Knowing that she could face jail the first time round didn’t stop McGarry getting preggers, after all if you are keen to avoid jail time, a new born is a useful prop, two is even better! In a post criminal trial verdict of Tommy Sheridan, he used his wee girl in mitigation and I think managed to drag in xmas into it as well. Sadly, although Santa Klaus made it to his house on Paisley Road West, Tommy didn’t that xmas!   

I missed out on the Court room drama first time round but really this trial is a spectacle worth going to view if you can get in.

This is round two!

Natalie McGarry appeared at Glasgow Sherrif Court today facing two embezzlement charges. She is accused of appropriating £21,000 for her own use in her role as treasurer of the Women for Independence group between April 26, 2013 and November 30, 2015. She is also accused of embezzling £4,661.02 for her own use from the Glasgow Regional Association of the Scottish National Party between April 9 2014 and August 10 2015.

The bit which made this case rather ‘meaty’ was when it was revealed in evidence that she was accused of failing to transfer charitable donations raised by the group to Perth and Kinross Foodbank and to Positive Prisons, Positive Futures. In cases like this when the magical £20,000 is reached or surpassed, if a person is found guilty, then jail time is on the cards.  

Natalie McGarry was part of the Glasgow Southside clique which surrounded Nicola Sturgeon. Her brand of poison was on show on social platforms like twitter on her rise to the top. McGarry was also happy to help others commit crime, here is the story about that episode, she escaped being named in open court after her pal; the vile Tommy Ball pleaded guilty.

http://glasgowunihumanrights.blogspot.com/2015/10/unmasked-nicola-sturgeons-independence.html

In the new trial, a jury will hear from the prosecution that McGarry allegedly transferred money made from fundraising events into her own personal accounts - and allegedly used cheques, held in the name of Women for Independence, to deposit money into her accounts. All the evidence of the first trial should be available in the second, and the fact McGarry has entered not guilty pleas to both charges isn’t a surprise. Of course, it might be a bit tricky finding a jury who doesn’t know that she already plea guilty to all of this in the first trial. I assume the Sheriff will have to raise this and then tell the jury to forget it.

In the aftermath of pleading guilty in the first trial, passing sentence, Sheriff Crozier told McGarry that her fraud and deceit had been of the "most serious kind" given the position of trust she had been in.

He added:

"You have fallen very far short of the standards the general public should expect from their elected representative. There is no alternative than a custodial sentence as you have shown no remorse."

Her brief, Allan MacLeod said something in the first trial of interest:

“Her position to date is that while she accepts that her financial organisation may have been lacking, somewhat haphazard, at no point has she ever accepted that she dishonestly appropriated any of these funds.”

This raises some questions;

1/ Did circa £21,000 go missing from Women for Independence when she was treasurer?

2/ Did circa £4,661.02 go missing from the Glasgow Regional Association when she was in charge?

3/ Did she transfer all the money allocated to Perth and Kinross Foodbank?

4/ Did she transfer all the money allocated to Positive Prisons, Positive Futures?

And that’s just to get started!

Oh how easy life would have been if coronavirus had wiped out the population of the world and sent those who were left back to the stone ages! Sadly for Natalie McGarry, the world is still spinning, courts are still in operation and her ticket has been called up again. In law, you have a thing called mitigation post verdict which gives your lawyer a chance to tell a sob story. In her case, the first time round, her lawyer said McGarry lived a "very isolated existence".

I don’t know about you but according to the press, Natalie McGarry when sentenced was said to live in trendy Clarkston, last time I checked, it wasn’t anywhere near outer Mongolia. Plenty of buses, trains, taxis going through there, nice parks, libraries, shops nearby and from press photos, the family has a nice car. So “very isolated existence” didn’t wash with me, and neither did it with Sheriff Crozier.

Finally, In the event that Natalie McGarry is convicted in this new trial, isolation will never be a problem in Cornton Vale Prison.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University