Failed to turn up for court hearing and appears to be in Mexico

An arrest warrant has been issued for former HIV Scotland boss Nathan Sparling after he failed to attend court on charges of embezzling funds from the defunct charity.

Sparling is charged with embezzling £15,984.60 from the organisation between 2019 and 2021 but did not turn up at Edinburgh Sherriff Court yesterday (Thursday, 9 October).

However on Sparling’s Instagram account, pictures of a luxury resort in Cancun, Mexico, were posted yesterday with the caption “Beautiful morning in Mexico".

A motion put forward by the Crown Office to issue a warrant for his arrest was granted by sheriff Matthew Auchincloss.

At the hearing, Sparling's lawyer said he had not been paid and the defendant had failed to contact him.

He said consequently he is no longer representing him.

Sparling, who lives in Bridgeton, Glasgow, pled not guilty to the charge at a previous hearing.

HIV Scotland was forced to close in May 2023 after several trustees left the board.

The charity was set up as the Scottish Voluntary HIV and AIDS Forum in September 1994 established by leading figures in the third and HIV sectors as a response to the Scottish Office AIDS Task Force call for improved provision and coordination of services.

Roy Kilpatrick was the founding CEO until 2011 before George Valiotis became chief executive until Sparling took over.

Alastair Hudson took on interim CEO after Sparling resigned and announced the charity's closure in March.

In a statement announcing its closure, the charity said: “HIV Scotland has been operating within a complex and challenging environment. This has included significant changes in governance, with the recruitment of a new chair and board and an entirely new management and staff team within the last two years.

“While this brought some stability to the charity, there have been some recent changes within the organisation’s governance which have caused concern.

“This has led to the chair and a significant number of the board resigning from their positions."

In a separate case in 2022 Sparling, who has also worked as a campaign manager for the SNP, was cleared of taking photos of a half-naked friend who was asleep at his flat.

The court found Sparling had taken the images but that the Crown had not supplied enough evidence to convict him of breaching the Sexual Offences Act.