Sheridan bid to block 'salacious' biography

TOMMY Sheridan is waging a battle from behind bars to prevent publication of a new biography that will allege he referred to women as "bikes" and faced complaints over his treatment of female members of Militant Tendency.

The disgraced former MSP, who is serving three years in jail for perjury after lying about his adultery and participation in group sex, has instructed his solicitor to threaten Professor Gregor Gall, and the academic's employer, the University of Hertfordshire, with legal action over the publication of Tommy Sheridan: From Hero To Zero?

The author is a former member of the Scottish Socialist Party, which Sheridan led before stepping down to pursue a civil case against the News of the World in 2006. Sheridan won the case, but it led to his eventual conviction for perjury in December.

Gall began researching his book in 2003 and enjoyed the initial support of Sheridan, who consented to 25 hours of interviews. However Sheridan broke contact with the academic following a split in the SSP. Privately, he has described the book as a "hatchet job".

Tomorrow, Sheridan's solicitor Aamer Anwar will write to the dean of the University of Hertfordshire to ask what financial support the institution gave the author and to dispute the academic nature of the book, which his client believes will be of a "salacious" nature.

Gall has said he will not provide his subject with a copy of the manuscript before publication.

Anwar said: "We will use every legal avenue to stop it from being published."

He added: "Is it an academic piece of work? Can the university claim that it is an academic piece of work? Why has the individual not been contacted and informed about what is being produced? They are walking on thin ice."

The biography will detail how female members of Militant Tendency alleged that they were degraded by Sheridan's behaviour to women, in the casual way in which he treated his sexual partners. He was alleged to have described women as "bikes".

However, the author said that, as he had been unable to track down these individuals, he makes clear that they were allegations.

Gall insisted the publication was a serious academic study and said he had not received any funding for the book from the university.