Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National party, has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling more than £400,000 from the party after agreeing a deal with prosecutors.He appeared in the high court in Edinburgh on Monday after being charged last year with stealing to fund an expensive lifestyle including a Jaguar car, a luxury motorhome, a luxury pen and women’s cosmetics.In a deal with prosecutors brokered over recent weeks, the ex-husband of the former SNP leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon admitted reduced charges in court after nearly £60,000 in alleged embezzlement was deleted from the six-page indictment.The judge, Lord Young, said Murrell was guilty of a “gross breach of trust” after embezzling party funds over a 12-year period, and remanded him into custody.Murrell, wearing a dark blue suit and black tie, was led away by a court security officer and will appear in court again on 2 June, when full details of his crimes will be disclosed in court.The party’s chief executive for 22 years, Murrell will be sentenced on 23 June and faces a lengthy period of imprisonment for the embezzlement of £400,310.65.The indictment included a 119-page list of all the items he bought using the SNP’s money, including Kindles, gardening equipment, telescopes, and a VW Golf car as well as the £124,000 motorhome and Jaguar car.The charge said he submitted false invoices, used the party’s credit cards, falsified the party’s accounts and, in some cases, claimed that they were legitimate expenses. Several times he used credit cards taken out in the names of SNP staff who worked for him.After Murrell’s guilty plea, Sturgeon said she had “no knowledge or suspicion” of his misuse of SNP funds.