Video: Nicola Sturgeon's statement to the Scottish Parliament.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after admitting she got "some things wrong" in a letter to a court in support of a convicted fraudster.

Ms Sturgeon had urged the court to consider alternatives to prison for benefits cheat Abdul Rauf.

She told Holyrood on Wednesday afternoon she had acted in "good faith" to assist one of her constituents but accepted that she should not have asked the court to consider alternatives to a jail sentence.

Ms Sturgeon also said she regretted using the word "mistake" to describe Rauf's offence, which involved defrauding tens of thousands of pounds from the Department of Work and Pensions.
 
She admitted that the use of the word had left the letter open to interpretation and maintained she was not trying to "downplay" the seriousness of Rauf's crime.

She told MSPs: "In short, I assisted a constituent in good faith and for what I considered to be the right reasons, but in doing so I did get some things wrong and for that I am sorry."

Ms Sturgeon admitted that having read the letter many times over she "believed in certain respects it could and should have been written differently".

She had written in the letter: "I would appeal to the court to take the points raised here into account and consider alternatives to a custodial sentence."

Ms Sturgeon said: "With hindsight, I think I allowed myself to be too influenced by the likely impact of Mr Rauf's actions on his family and that led me to write a letter that was not as carefully worded as it should have been."

She said that the wording of that part of the letter was more appropriate as her time as a solicitor and not an MSP. She added: "So I understand why it went too far."

She said it was unnecessary as a court of its own accord would look at the options open to it.

Ms Sturgeon also said in the last few days she had "thought long and hard" about the matter and about the judgment she had used.

In the chamber at the Scottish Parliament Ms Sturgeon revealed she had first been approached by Rauf on July 4, 2008 when he turned up at her surgery at Pollokshaws Library.

He told her he was under investigations about benefits he was not entitled to.

She said he had not denied he had wrongly received it but asked for her support because of the detrimental affect it was having on his health and his family.

The MSP said she met him four times after that, once with his wife, and on February 2 this year her constituency office was asked for a letter on his personal circumstances.

She said the letter was written on February 3.

Labour leader Iain Gray hit out at Sturgeon saying it was absurd that she believed it was her "obligation" to support such a constituent.

He said: "She should have chosen a more cautious letter or none at all. How she did so was always a matter of judgment as she herself has made clear today."

Mr Gray also asked her to consider her position as Deputy First Minister: "Fraud is not a victimless crime. How can she stand up for a criminal? I ask her to consider her position."

When quizzed by Tory leader Annabel Goldie, Ms Sturgeon said Rauf had no connection with the SNP that she knew of and said she had never met him until he arrived at her constituency office.

Rauf appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court earlier this month and the letter was handed over to Sheriff Alan MacKenzie in his defence.

The 59-year-old was due to be sentenced but the matter was deferred so that he could sell one of his properties and pay some of the money back.

He failed to declare property in Newington, Edinburgh, worth £200,000 on his application for income support.

Rauf, who also has a £400,000 house in an upmarket Glasgow suburb, was receiving £650 a month in rent while he claimed the benefits over a five-year period.

The sheriff told Rauf that a jail sentence was "at the forefront" of his mind and deferred sentencing for three months.

He said: "I am prepared to defer sentence for three months to see what steps can be taken towards restitution and in order to receive a detailed report on your health from a cardiologist."

Read full content of the letter here

STV's political reporter Jamie Livingstone analyses the sincerity of Ms Sturgeon's apology