Witness in Tommy Sheridan trial ‘had emails hacked by News of the World’

By SCOTT MACNAB
Published on 19/06/2012 16:06

A WITNESS in the trial of former Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan has been told by police her personal emails were hacked in 2005.

Fiona McGuire told the News of the World she had an affair with the former MSP in a News of the World story which prompted his initial action against the newspaper.

Criminal charges of computer hacking could have far more serious consequences than charges of phone hacking, as the Computer Misuse Act bans any unauthorised access of data and carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.

Miss McGuire, 38, told the News of the World in 2004 that Sheridan had conducted an adulterous affair with her, and when Sheridan subsequently sued the newspaper for libel she told a court she took part in an orgy with Sheridan and three other people.

Steven Heffer, who already represents Miss McGuire in a phone hacking claim against News Group Newspapers, said: “I am acting for an individual who was a witness in the Sheridan libel trial.

“I have been shown evidence which indicates that my client’s very personal emails may have been intercepted and passed between senior staff at The News of the World in Scotland in 2005.

“I am conscious that the matter is the subject of ongoing police investigations and cannot comment further for obvious reasons.”