THE CROWN Office has been urged to investigate claims the SNP’s chief executive has committed perjury.

Labour and the Tories claim Peter Murrell - who is married to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - may have “perjured himself” when he testified under oath to the Holyrood committee probing the botched handling of harassment allegations made against Alex Salmond

Last December, the party boss told MSPs he was not aware of text and WhatsApp messages regarding allegations against Salmond.

However, it has since emerged that messages do exist, and are being held by the Crown Office.

Last Friday the inquiry took the unprecedented step of ordering prosecutors to release the material.

During the committee hearing on December 8, Labour’s Jackie Baillie asked Murrell if he had discussed Salmond’s judicial review in a WhatsApp group with party or government colleagues.

He replied: “I can tell you only that I know nothing about a WhatsApp group. I am not on WhatsApp; it is not a social media platform that I use.”

It then emerged there was a WhatsApp account linked to his mobile number that had been used. 

Murrelll then wrote to the committee to clarify. “I do not use WhatsApp. There are several messaging apps on my phone that I don’t use. 

“This includes profiles on Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Instagram, Slack, Skype, and WhatsApp, none of which I use.” 

He was then asked whether he had “ever used WhatsApp in the past including any communications with SNP officials or party members on anything related to concerns about the former first minister and the timescales for such exchanges”.

He responded: “I confirm that I have not used WhatsApp on any matters related to concerns raised about the behaviour of Mr Salmond.”

Baillie has now written to the Crown Office calling for an investigation.

She said: “During my exchange with Peter Murrell... I asked him about the existence of other text and Whatsapp messages, beyond the two messages from him in the public domain. 

“He denied that there was anything else, other than the two text messages under discussion by the Committee. 

“It would seem to be the case that, from information recently placed in the public domain, there were other text and WhatsApp messages. 

“Indeed the Committee has written to you using its Section 23 powers, set out in the Scotland Act, to request sight of those messages, so they evidently exist.

“Given that his evidence was taken under oath, I regard this as a very serious matter and I understand from parliamentary lawyers that committing perjury is considered to be a criminal offence.

“As the Crown Office have all the text and Whatsapp messages secured during the evidence gathering phase of the criminal trial against Alex Salmond, you will be in a position to know whether any more exist than the two already in the public domain. 

“If that is the case, and particularly if there are more in which Mr Murrell is involved, I am concerned that his evidence to the Committee was not accurate.

“I would therefore be very grateful if you would confirm that you will undertake an urgent investigation into whether Peter Murrell has committed perjury.”

Commenting on the letter, the Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “The SNP’s story changes every time they or their civil servants appear in front of the Salmond inquiry.

“What is clear is that Peter Murrell’s story simply does not add up and he has serious questions to answer.

“It is time we got to the truth of the matter about what senior SNP figures knew and when, rather than them trying to decide what is relevant information.

“The Crown Office must urgently investigate the SNP chief executive's evidence in order to guarantee that this committee was presented with a true version of events."

The cross-party committee is investigating the Scottish Government’s investigation into allegations of misconduct made against the former First Minister.

Salmond had the exercise set aside in January 2019, with a judicial review declaring it “unlawful” and “tainted by bias”. The Government’s flawed handling ultimately cost the taxpayer half a million pounds.

At a later criminal case the former SNP leader was cleared on multiple sexual assault charges.

The SNP has been approached for comment.