A FORMER SNP MP who was jailed for embezzling almost £25,000 has lost an appeal over their conviction, but had their prison term cut to 20 months.
Lawyers for Natalie McGarry, who was elected as the MSP for Glasgow East in 2015, said that her trial was prejudiced by a “tsunami” of social media posts.
The Court of Criminal Appeal concluded that legal safeguards meant that jurors only considered the evidence which was presented in court.
She had been jailed for two years following a trial in June last year.
McGarry, 41, was found guilty of stealing £19,974 while treasurer of Women For Independence.
She was also convicted of taking £4661 while treasurer and convener of the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association.
Judges dismissed her appeal and said she received a fair trial.
Lady Dorrian, who gave the judgement, compared the posts on Twitter to the kind of “tittle tattle” you would hear at the bus stop or pub.
She said trial judge Sheriff Tom Hughes repeatedly told the jury to reach their verdict on the evidence in court, “without regard to any other source”.
She added: “These were thorough and careful directions, making the position abundantly clear, and there is no basis for thinking that the jury did not follow them.”
McGarry’s lawyers had argued she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice as a result of comments made on social media before the beginning of the trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Gordon Jackson KC said the tweets meant jurors had been prejudiced and were therefore unable to return fair verdicts.
He said the tweets contained links to newspaper articles detailing how she had previously pleaded guilty to the embezzlement charge.
He added: “At the time the jury were empanelled, there was a tsunami of tweets made about Ms McGarry. These were nasty, personal and focused on attacking her.”
The appeals were considered by Lady Dorrian, Lord Pentland and Lord Matthews.
The former MP, who held the Westminster post between 2015 and 2017, also appealed against her two-year prison sentence.
The judges agreed to reduce McGarry’s prison sentence to 20 months.
Lady Dorrian added: “It seems that the sheriff took this into account in reaching the sentence which he selected, leading him to impose a sentence which may properly be described as excessive.”
