³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Nicola Sturgeon gifted a phone used during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic to a relative.

The former first minister has been criticised for failing to retain WhatsApp messages to ministers and officials amid the initial response to the outbreak.

Written that she upgraded her device in December 2020.

But the old handset was passed on to a "family member whose phone had broken".

Ms Sturgeon previously told the inquiry she had used a personal mobile phone to send messages during the pandemic.

The former SNP leader - who appeared at the hearing on Wednesday - confirmed she had never used a government-issued phone out of "personal preference".

In written submissions, she said: "I have never opted to use a government-issued mobile telephone (except for temporary periods when overseas where use of devices operated at home was advised against).

"It was my personal preference not to operate multiple devices which would have been necessary had I used a government-issued phone, as I could not have made party/constituency related calls on it.

"It was never suggested to me at any time that not having a government-issued phone was inappropriate".

The evidence, submitted by Ms Sturgeon in November last year, stated she used a personal iPad to access Scottish government email, but this was no longer in use.

The new phone she has used since December 2020 is still in her possession, she added.

Ms Sturgeon also said she had received advice from Scottish government officials that WhatsApp messages removed from a device could only be retrieved for a period of up to 30 days.

However, she said any "matters of substance" relating to the pandemic response would have been "communicated through the formal Scottish government system".

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Ms Sturgeon said her use of WhatsApp was "extremely limited" and did not relate to "substantive" government business.

She said she deleted informal messages in line with official advice, and "salient" points were all recorded on the corporate record.

She denied that deleting those messages meant the Scottish or UK inquiries would be deprived of relevant material about decision-making during the pandemic.