Tommy Sheridan asked party comrade to lie for him, court is told

• Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail arrive at the High Court in Glasgow for the second day of the trial. Picture: PA

Alison Kane also claimed he asked her to "rattle some cages" to ensure minutes of a party meeting in which he told colleagues he had been to Cupid's Club in Manchester "disappeared".

Ms Kane was the second person to tell a perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow that Mr Sheridan had told an emergency meeting of the Scottish Socialist Party's executive that he had visited the club with some "close friends".

The former MSP and his wife Gail, both 46, are accused of lying under oath during Mr Sheridan's successful 2006 defamation action against the News of the World. They deny the allegations.

On the second day of the perjury trial, Ms Kane, the former treasurer of the Scottish Socialist Party, told the court Mr Sheridan had "lost the plot" and was "fighting for his political life" after he made the admission to the meeting at the party's headquarters in Stanley Street, Glasgow, on 9 November, 2004. She said he asked to meet her "four or five days" after the meeting and then asked her to lie about other members of the party and persuade remaining members of the committee to get rid of the minutes detailing his confession.

The 42-year-old, who has since left the party and now works as a part-time lecturer and accountant, said Mr Sheridan was "one of my best friends", but their friendship ended after she told the party's executive what he had asked her to do.

She told the court: "Tommy had wanted to meet with me. He was fighting for his political life and he saw me as a friend and an ally. He thought I would help him. He wanted me to meet with the press and say lies about other people. Tommy was aware of the minutes and he asked me to 'rattle some cages' so no minutes were produced.

"He wanted me to suggest to other people we should lose those minutes. Tommy wanted any minutes to disappear. I thought he had lost the plot by that stage.."

Ms Kane recalled how his admission was met with stunned silence by the members of the executive. She told advocate depute Alex Prentice: "He explained he had attended a sex club in Manchester called Cupid's. He said he had been a couple of times and it was possible there may be something in the press the following Sunday. I wasn't happy because I realised what it would mean for Tommy, for our party.

"At that time Tommy and I had a close personal friendship. It was a shock.

It was a shock for most people to hear what Tommy had to say."

The trial has previously heard how the secretary who took notes at the meeting was accused of "fabricating" the minutes in the 2006 libel case.

Maggie Scott QC showed Ms Kane a second set of what she described as "mystery minutes" for the meeting on 9 November, 2004, which contained no reference to Mr Sheridan admitting he had attended the swingers' club.

Ms Kane told the court it was "a big omission", adding: "Those are not the correct minutes."

The indictment against the Sheridans contains three charges, two of which are broken down into a number of sub-sections.

Mr Sheridan denies lying to the courts during his case, which followed the newspaper's claims he was an adulterer who had visited a swingers' club. It is alleged he made false statements as a witness in the defamation action on 21 July, 2006.

He also denies another charge of attempting to persuade a witness to commit perjury shortly before the 23-day legal action got under way.

Mrs Sheridan denies making false statements on 31 July, 2006, after being sworn in as a witness in the civil jury trial at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

The trial, before Lord Bracadale, continues.