Court refuses former MP's request to withdraw guilty plea

A former MP has failed in her attempt to withdraw her guilty plea to embezzlement.

37 year-old Natalie McGarry admitted last week at Glasgow Sheriff Court to fraudulently obtaining £25,661 from two campaigns for Scottish independence between April 2013 and November 2016.

However, her advocate Allan Macleod asked Sheriff Paul Crozier to allow the ex-SNP politician to change her plea.

McGarry had previously had two different lawyers acting for her.

He claimed as the was representing herself last week, she was under pressure to tender her guilty plea.

Sheriff Crozier in his refusal said: “She had a number of opportunities to tender that plea even after her solicitor had gone, I couldn’t have been fairer to her.

“The court have bent over backwards for Miss McGarry.”

Mr Mcleod also tendered a motion to excuse Sheriff Crozier from the case.

He was advised by McGarry that she thought remarks made to her in previous hearings weren’t fair.

Macleod told Crozier: “There have been critiques in the case of your lordship.”

Crozier replied: “That happens all the time.”

The former Glasgow East MP believed Sheriff Crozier pressured her into pleading guilty a day before her six week trial was to commence.

Sheriff Crozier told Mr Macleod “How can that form the basis of a dismissal?

"I have listened carefully to what has been said, the legal tests have not been met and the motion has been refused."

It was claimed the stress of the hearing last week had caused McGarry to have a panic attack in court.

After Sheriff Crozier refused to withdraw her guilty plea, McGarry sobbed.

Prosecutor Gerard Drugan then moved to begin reading a narrative of the facts of the case.

But, in a further delay, McGarry's lawyer stepped in to state there were problems with it.

Sheriff Crozier claimed that this was what the last adjournment was for and asked if there had been any communication between the two parties since last week.

Both Mr Drugan and Mr Macleod denied contacting each other.

Mr Drugan said: “There was a problem last week with very minor details in the narration but it was my understanding that there was going to be a resolution.”

Sheriff Crozier has allowed time for Mr Macleod to look over the narration.

The case will call again next week.

She pleaded guilty last week to embezzling money from Women for Independence that was set to go to a food bank in Perth and Kinross.

McGarry also admitted embezzling from the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP.

She had not guilty pleas accepted on one other embezzlement allegation and a failure to disclose a password for an iPhone.