Defiant Sheridans to be tried for perjury

Published on Tuesday 27 January 2009 20:59

TOMMY Sheridan, the former Solidarity MSP, yesterday vowed to fight to clear his name after he and his wife, Gail, were indicted to appear before a jury on charges of perjury.

The Crown Office yesterday served indictments on the couple, confirming that a year-long police investigation into evidence given during the former politician's defamation case against the News of the World will result in a trial.

The 44-year-old firebrand socialist faces one charge of perjury and another charge of attempting to persuade someone else to commit perjury.

Gail Sheridan, also 44, faces one charge of perjury.

Sheridan, who recently appeared on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother, was awarded 200,000 in damages after he took the Sunday newspaper to court in 2006.

The News of the World had published sex claims against the former Glasgow MSP.

The perjury investigation was launched after a judge said that conflicting evidence in the trial might have meant some people were perjuring themselves.

Sheridan and his wife have always denied the allegations and criticised the way Lothian and Borders Police handled the investigation.

The couple appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to answer the charges in March last year and were released on bail.

Yesterday, Sheridan's solicitor, Aamer Anwar, read a short statement on the steps outside his office in Glasgow confirming the move.

He said: "I can confirm that an indictment was served today for charges of perjury against Thomas and Gail Sheridan.

"A preliminary hearing is fixed for 26 February at the High Court in Edinburgh, and a trial will then be fixed for later on in the year.

"As proceedings are live, it would be inappropriate to comment further, other than to state that both Mr and Mrs Sheridan maintain their innocence and are determined to fight this."

Sheridan stood beside his lawyer as he spoke and would only say afterwards: "I can't say anything but, as Aamer said, we will fight to clear our names."

The perjury claims followed Sheridan's case against the News of the World at the Court of Session in August 2006.

At the time, a jury of six men and five women dismissed the paper's claims that Sheridan, who was an MSP at the time, was a serial adulterer and had visited a swingers' club.

The 23-day trial, in which several members of the Scottish Socialist Party gave evidence against Sheridan, led to a political split, after which he established a rival party, Solidarity.

Neither Sheridan nor his former colleagues were returned to the Scottish Parliament in the May 2007 elections.

Before the jury retired to consider its verdict, Lord Turnbull said disparities in the evidence given to the court might have meant some people had been lying on oath – an offence which could lead to a prison sentence.

Prosecution authorities later instructed the police to investigate allegations of perjury by witnesses during the trial.

Sheridan was arrested outside the Edinburgh offices of the now-defunct Talk 107 radio station, where he had a talk show, in December 2007. His wife was charged with perjury by police in February last year.

The Glasgow home he shares with his wife was searched as part of the investigation. At the time, he insisted he was the victim of a "political witch-hunt".

"I believe this whole farcical inquiry, that has used up an incredible amount of public resources, has been orchestrated and influenced by the powerful reach of the Murdoch empire," he said at the time, referring to the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who owns the News of the World.

Sheridan has been one of Scotland's most controversial, colourful and outspoken political figures for the past two decades.

As a socialist rebel in the classic mould, his no-holds-barred campaigning style has seen him at loggerheads with the Establishment throughout his political career.

Earlier this month, he made the headlines again when he took part in Celebrity Big Brother.

He struggled on the show and was the fifth celebrity to be evicted and was booed by the crowd as he left.

When asked about his reasons for going into the house, he replied: "I needed the money," and later added: "It was a well-paid job."

WHAT NEXT

TOMMY Sheridan and his wife Gail will appear at a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on 26 February.

It is likely that a trial date will be set at the hearing. The expectation is that the trial will take place towards the end of the year.

The Crown is likely to call a long list of witnesses while referring to statements and documentary evidence in putting forward the case for the prosecution.

Each of the Sheridans will have their own separate legal teams. Defence counsel will call their own witnesses – including the accused themselves.

The renowned QC Donald Findlay is representing Tommy Sheridan with Paul McBride, QC, defending his wife.

Colourful history of a self-styled class warrior

HE WAS evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother house for being too dull. But Tommy Sheridan's life has been a colourful mix of controversy and drama.

The permanently tanned self-styled class warrior came to prominence as a leading organiser of anti-poll tax protests in the late 1980s.

It was while in prison for publicly tearing up a court order that he was elected a councillor for the ward of Pollok in Glasgow, winning 52 per cent of the vote.

In 1999, Mr Sheridan entered Holyrood as the Scottish Socialist Party's sole member and four years later helped achieve the remarkable feat of being re-elected along with another five SSP MSPs.

However, the party fractured in the run-up to Mr Sheridan's defamation case in 2006, resulting in some SSP colleagues, including several MSPs, giving evidence against him.

After splitting with the SSP, the new party he formed, Solidarity, failed to win a single seat at the 2007 Holyrood elections.

Mr Sheridan went on to host a chat show during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and presented a radio talk show on Talk 107 until his arrest at the station last year.

He announced he would spend his six-figure Big Brother pay on university fees to retrain as a lawyer.