East Renfrewshire woman Natalie McGarry committed "significant breaches of trust," a court heard as she was found guilty of embezzling almost £25,000 from two pro-independence groups.

McGarry, who represented Glasgow East for the SNP between 2015 and 2017, was convicted of two charges of embezzlement – totalling £24,635 – following a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

A jury found her guilty by majority of embezzling £19,974 while she was treasurer of Women for Independence (WFI) between April 2013 and November 2015.

However, the jury deleted a sum of £1,026 from the charge accounting for donations which were to be made to charities Perth and Kinross Foodbank and Positive Prisons Positive Futures.

McGarry was also found guilty by majority of a second charge of taking money between April 2014 and August 2015 when she was treasurer, secretary and convener of the Glasgow Regional Association (GRA) of the SNP.

Sheriff Tom Hughes told McGarry she had been given a position of trust by the two organisations, which had helped her get elected to Westminster.

He said: "What you have been convicted of are a series of incidents which took place over a long period of time.

"It was not a one-off incident. There were a number of transactions carried out by you to allow you to carry out this crime.

"There's a significant breach of trust in all of this. You were asked to deal with the finances of both Women for Independence and the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP."

There was no reaction from 41-year-old McGarry when the verdict was read out.

Over the six-week trial, the court heard from dozens of witnesses, including former health secretary Jeane Freeman, who said she had reported McGarry to the authorities after noticing a significant shortfall in WFI accounts.

Ms Freeman said she had no idea donations made to the group's independence Crowdfunder were going from the organisation's PayPal account into McGarry's personal bank account.

She also voiced her frustrations at McGarry's delay in handing over the receipts and invoices which would show what the funds had been spent on.

The court also heard from witnesses that McGarry was skint and regularly received loans from family and friends.

That included from Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, who gave her £600 to prevent her being evicted from her house.

The court also saw bank records of McGarry's which showed Crowdfunder donations from WFI being transferred to her own personal account.

It included £10,472 on April 29, 2014, and a further £9,848 on November 12, 2014, which she used to pay rent and shopping.

McGarry, of Clarkston, had said these were "legitimate" expenses she had incurred and was reimbursing herself for.

About £5,000 or £10,000 of expenses were incurred on banners and badges, she said.

These had been paid for by significant cash donations amounting to about £1,500 to £1,600 per month from family members, including her aunt, Tricia Marwick, who is a former Holyrood presiding officer.

Sheriff Hughes released McGarry on bail for background and social work reports.

She is expected to appear for sentencing on June 30.

McGarry had the SNP whip withdrawn upon reports of the allegations and was suspended from the party but continued to sit as an independent MP.

She did not seek re-election in the snap general election of 2017.

In 2018, McGarry was charged with three counts of embezzlement, two charges under the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013 and one charge under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

A plea of not guilty was entered in 2019 for the embezzlement charges and the one charge under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, which was in relation to failing to provide a passcode to a seized mobile phone.

At a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court in April 2019, she pleaded guilty to two charges of embezzlement involving £21,000 from WFI and £4,661 from the GRA. The remaining charges were dropped.

But, days later, she attempted to withdraw her two guilty pleas, with the sheriff ruling that was not possible.

She began a jail sentence of 18 months before being released on bail days later, pending an appeal.

The conviction was quashed and McGarry was notified of a retrial.

That retrial began on April 6 and came to a dramatic conclusion this afternoon.