WE WILL PROSECUTE MP McGARRY AGAIN
Theft appeal win would lead to retrial, Crown QC says
PROSECUTORS will bring former MP Natalie McGarry back to court if she wins an appeal against embezzlement convictions, a court heard yesterday.
Prosecution lawyer Alex Prentice QC told judge Lord Menzies that the Crown would retry McGarry for stealing more than £25,000 from pro-Scottish independence groups.
Lawyers acting for the former SNP MP want appeal judges to quash her conviction. They claim BY JAMES MULHOLLAND McGarry, who was jailed for 18 months in June, had received “defective representation” from her previous legal team.
McGarry, of Clarkston, Glasgow, wasn’t present at the procedural hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
Mr Prentice asked Lord Menzies to pass an order which would restrict what the Press could report about proceedings because he had concerns it could “prejudice” future hearings.
He added: “If Ms McGarry is successful with this appeal, the Crown would move for a retrial.”
The former politician was convicted of taking cash she wasn’t entitled to from the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association and Women for Independence.
She spent the money on rent, a holiday to Spain, transfers of money to her husband and other lifestyle expenses, a court heard.
McGarry, an MP between 2015 and 2017, pled guilty to two charges of embezzlement at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
She was released from prison on bail ahead of her appeal. Gordon Jackson QC will be acting as the main lawyer in the case.
The motion to impose reporting restrictions was withdrawn. Lord Menzies continued the case.