JUDGES have confirmed that former MP Natalie McGarry’s appeal against her embezzlement convictions will take place in December.
Lord Carloway, Lord Turnbull and Lord Drummond Young told lawyers acting for Ms McGarry that they will hear arguments in the case on December 19 this year.
The judges fixed the date following a short hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Lawyers acting for the former SNP parliamentarian want the appeal judges to quash her convictions.
READ MORE: Former MP Natalie McGarry released on bail
The former Glasgow East representative was jailed for 18 months in June 2019 at the city’s sheriff court after pleading guilty to stealing more than £25,000 from pro-Scottish independence groups.
The former politician was jailed after being convicted of taking cash she wasn’t entitled to from the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association and Women for Independence.
Some of the money included in the sum embezzled included donations meant for a food bank.
She also spent some of the money on rent, a holiday to Spain, cash transfers to her husband, Glasgow Conservative councillor David Meikle, and other lifestyle expenses.
After pleading guilty to the embezzlement charges, Sheriff Paul Crozier told McGarry: “You have fallen very far short of the standards the general public should expect from their elected representatives.
“There is no alternative than a custodial sentence as you have shown no remorse.”
READ MORE: SNP activist: why I helped expose Natalie McGarry for her crimes
The present case once again called with a court official announcing her name over a tannoy as Natalie Meikle. She wasn’t present in court for the hearing.
Her present legal team - Gordon Jackson QC and Claire Mitchell QC - claim that their client received “defective representation” during the sheriff court case.
They claim that Ms McGarry is a victim of a miscarriage of justice and are seeking to have her convictions quashed.
The case will next call on December 19.
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