We didn't leak Gail and Tommy Sheridan tapes, claim police

POLICE have denied leaking tapes of Tommy and Gail Sheridan being interviewed by officers during their perjury investigation into the couple.

Lothian and Borders chiefs have told their local police board that they have carried out an internal inquiry and found the leak to the BBC did not come from the force.

They have also contacted the Crown Office, which also had the tapes, and been told they did not leak them either.

It follows a formal complaint from Mrs Sheridan against the police, alleging she was persecuted by them because of her religion.

Both she and her husband have threatened legal action against the police and the prosecution service and have also demanded an investigation into how tapes of them being interviewed by the police were handed to the BBC.

The Crown Office said the only people who the tapes were released to were defence agents of the Sheridans.

However, Aamer Anwar called the internal investigation a "whitewash" and said it was not in the Sheridans' interests to release the tapes.

Mr Anwar, the Sheridans' lawyer, said: "That strikes me as a completely inadequate and a pathetic excuse for an internal inquiry. Yes we had those tapes but it was not in the interests of Mr Sheridan, and it was not in the interests of Mrs Sheridan, to leak them.

"We want the police and Crown Office to conduct a full and transparent investigation - it's not over yet."

• Sheridans: differing approaches to questioning

Iain Whyte, convener of the Lothian and Borders Police Board, said: "There have been concerns among board members and the public that interviews undertaken by the police appeared on the BBC. The board raised this and the force confirmed that there has been an investigation and there is no evidence to suggest they had been released by the police. Any inquiry into why the tapes appeared on TV should look elsewhere."

The tapes showed Mr Sheridan, dressed all in black, answer questions for more than six hours. In the interview he denied attending sex clubs, being an adulterer or lying in court.

In contrast, Mrs Sheridan refused to answer any questions.

Mr Sheridan, a former MSP and leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, was convicted of committing perjury during a defamation action he brought against the News of the World, following reports that he attended a swingers club.

He was sentenced to three years in prison. Mrs Sheridan was also accused of perjury, but acquitted during the trial.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "The Crown did not authorise the release of police interview tapes in this case."

A police spokesperson said: "Lothian and Borders Police note the comments of the Police Board."