Shocking arrest for 'Queen of Scots'

Nicola Sturgeon kicked off the year with the vow she still had "plenty in the tank" after eight years as Scotland's leader, only to quit her role shortly after.

And her brief arrest on Sunday as part of a financial probe into the Scottish National Party capped a spectacular fall from grace for the woman once dubbed by media as the

"Queen of Scots."

Questioned for seven hours, she emerged proclaiming innocence. "To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offense is both a shock and deeply distressing," said Sturgeon, 52, who quit as first minister and SNP leader in February amid a fierce row over transgender rights.

She was also struggling to find momentum for the party's raison d'etre - Scottish independence.

Her arrest had been largely expected, a blow for one once regarded as an almost invincible presence at the head of Scottish politics.

Acknowledging the strains of office, she said: "I am a human being as well as a politician."