EX-MP Mcgarry denies stealing £25,000 from Scots indy groups

FORMER SNP MP Natalie Mcgarry has told a court she did not embezzle money from two pro-independence campaign groups.

Ms Mcgarry is giving evidence in her own defence at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The former MP, 40, who represented Glasgow East for the SNP, is accused of stealing more than £25,000 between April 2013 and August 2015.

She is said to have embezzled

£21,000 while treasurer for Women for Independence (WFI) between April 26, 2013 and November 30, 2015.

A second charge states Ms Mcgarry took £4,661 between April 9, 2014 and August 10, 2015, when she was treasurer, secretary and convenor of Glasgow Regional Association (GRA) of the SNP.

Ms Mcgarry, of Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, denies the two charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

She began her evidence by stating that she suffers from a condition which affects her vocal nerves and is impacted by her mental health.

Her defence counsel Allan Macleod asked her: “Did you embezzle money from the organisation Women for Independence?”

Ms Mcgarry, pictured, replied: “Certainly not.”

She also denied embezzling money from the GRA of the SNP.

Ms Mcgarry claimed that she joined WFI in order to bridge the gap between male and female voices in the independence campaign.

She claimed to have taken a more hands-on role with the administration side of WFI after an unpaid bill of £187 was sent to one of the organisation’s email accounts which had not been dealt with.

Ms Mcgarry told the jury that it was “embarrassing” as the printing firm owed the cash was a personal contact.

She claimed that she and fellow founding member Shona Mcalpine did the “donkey work” for the organisation.

Ms Mcgarry later said: “I’m a good organiser but I’m not the most organised person, this is not what I signed up for.

“I believed in the organisation and independence, someone had to step up and do it and there didn’t seem as if there were people doing it. “It was just falling by the wayside and I didn’t want it to fail and Shona Mcalpine didn’t want it to fail.”

She said that the pair pushed WFI through 2013 and 2014 and added that they were “overwhelmed”.

Ms Mcgarry claimed she was unemployed at the time and was being helped out financially by her parents. She claimed that her “arm was pulled” when she decided to stand as a candidate in the Cowdenbeath by-election for Holyrood in 2013.

She was defeated and later stood again for the SNP at the 2015 UK general election as a candidate for Glasgow East where she was elected.

Ms Mcgarry said: “My campaign team were the best and deserved someone who would give their all to the campaign and I did and they did – we exhausted ourselves.

“There was nothing that we didn’t do that we could have.”

Ms Mcgarry added that she was not “focused enough” on WFI business during the election campaign.

Ms Mcgarry was visibly emotional when she told the jury that she did not stand for election again in 2017.

She said: “This was hanging over me and I wasn’t able to fight the election again and I was pregnant as well.”

The trial continues before sheriff

Tom Hughes.