Disgraced former SNP MP's £210,000 legal bill to be paid by TAXPAYERS after her £25k theft
McCarry’s £208,802 legal bill is being covered by taxpayers
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British taxpayers will be forced to pay the hefty £210,000 legal bill of former SNP MP Natalie McGarry after she was convicted of theft.
McGarry embezzled £19,974 whilst she was treasurer of Women for Independence, and an additional £4,661 from the SNP.
On Monday the former Glasgow East MP was ordered to repay just £66 after her theft.
McCarry’s £208,802 legal bill is being covered by taxpayers, the Mail Online reported.
She embezzled £19,974 whilst she was treasurer of Women for Independence, and an additional £4,661 from the SNP
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The eye-watering figure is almost 3,200 times more than the amount she was forced to repay.
The taxpayer-funded fee has sparked outrage with some Scottish opposition critics.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russel Findlay said: "It should not take eight years for the wheels of justice to turn for this crooked SNP politician. The length of this saga is remarkable and hugely costly to taxpayers - with the final insult the pathetic proceeds of crime outcome.
"At one stage, the Crown said McGarry benefited from her crime to the tune of £195,000 - yet she ends up having to hand over just a few pounds of her dirty money."
McGarry challenged her conviction twice, after initially pleading guilty to the charges.
The lengthy process finally ended last week, after the former SNP faced two trials and two appeals.
The ex-SNP MP originally pled guilty in 2018 but she soon withdrew this and tried to appeal her sentence.
She went on trial again last year and was found guilty of embezzling both the SNP and the Women for Independence Party.
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She was the SNP member for Glasgow East from 2015 to 2017
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McGarry was jailed for two years in June 2022, but her sentence was reduced to 20 months after an appeal.
The 41-year-old has since been released from prison.
Ahead of her sentencing last year, Sheriff Tom Hughes said: "Your standards have fallen well short of those the public should expect from MPs."
McGarry was the SNP member for Glasgow East from 2015 to 2017.
She has a month to pay the £66.36 fee, which was described by fiscal depute Brian Duffy as "the only amount available to Miss McGarry towards the confiscation order."