Nicola Sturgeon’s sister charged over alleged domestic incident, police say

Gillian Sturgeon has been released on undertaking to appear in court at later date

Police Scotland has confirmed that the sister of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has been charged over an alleged incident in North Ayrshire (PA)

The sister of Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested and charged over an alleged domestic incident, according to police.

Gillian Sturgeon, who is 46 years old, was arrested on Wednesday over an alleged incident at a house in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, on 7 August.

The mother-of-two has since been released on the condition that she appears at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court at a later date which is yet to be confirmed.

A 50-year-old man has also been arrested and charged over the same alleged incident, for which he has also been released on an undertaking to appear at the same court.

“On Wednesday 11 August, a 46-year-old woman was arrested and charged following a report made on Tuesday 10 August regarding an incident that took place within a house in Kilwinning on Saturday 7 August,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said.

“She has been released on an undertaking to appear at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court at a later date.

“A full report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”

It comes just a few weeks after Gillian Sturgeon was criticised for not wearing a face covering on public transport after she shared a maskless selfie on a train to Edinburgh in late July.

Face coverings are still a legal requirement on public transport in Scotland, despite the majority of Covid restrictions being lifted this month.

In a social media post defending her actions, Ms Sturgeon said that she was “sitting down eating a sandwich” when she took off her mask.

“Nowhere near anyone and didn’t realise I was on a disabled seat,” she wrote in the post.

“There were loads of seats empty. I did nothing wrong.”

In response to that incident, Nicola Sturgeon’s spokesperson described the 46-year-old’s behaviour as a “momentary lapse” which she would ensure was not repeated.

Additional reporting by PA