A FORMER MP from East Renfrewshire who is accused of embezzling more than £25,000 from two pro-independence groups is to stand trial next month.

Natalie McGarry, 40, did not appear at a short hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday, where a trial date of April 4 was set.

She has previously entered not guilty pleas.

McGarry, of Clarkston, is accused of misappropriating £21,000 for her own use in her role as treasurer of the Women for Independence group between April 26, 2013, and November 30, 2015.

She is accused of failing to transfer donations raised by the group to Perth and Kinross Foodbank and to Positive Prisons, Positive Futures.

McGarry is also accused of embezzling £4,661 for her own use from the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP between April 9, 2014, and August 10, 2015.

McGarry was elected as an SNP member in 2015 but resigned the party whip after the emergence of fraud allegations, which she denied. She continued as an independent MP for Glasgow East but did not seek re-election in 2017.