Tommy and Gail Sheridan faced the media outside court after the verdict Tommy Sheridan guilty of perjury
Tommy and Gail Sheridan faced the media outside court after the verdict Tommy Sheridan has been convicted of perjury following a 12-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The 46-year-old former MSP was found guilty of lying during his successful defamation case against the News of the World newspaper in 2006.
Sheridan has been given bail and faces a prison term when he is sentenced on 26 January.
His wife Gail, also 46, was acquitted last week after the Crown withdrew charges against her.
Following the verdict, Sheridan’s solicitor, Amar Anwar, read a statement on his client’s behalf outside the court.
In the statement, Mr Sheridan said: “I make no apology for taking on the might of Rupert Murdoch.”
After this was read out, Gail Sheridan gave her reaction to the waiting media.
She thanked everyone across Scotland for all their support, emphasising their gratitude towards “real friends”.
Mrs Sheridan added: “I have and will always stand by Tommy.”
At this point, a highly emotional Sheridan hugged and kissed his wife.
The verdict, which took six hours to deliver, brings to a close what is thought to be the longest-running perjury case in Scottish legal history.
Its beginning can be traced to Sheridan’s successful defamation action against the Sunday tabloid in August 2006.
TIMELINE
31 October, 2004 – The News of the World publishes the first of a series of stories about the then-SSP leader11 November, 2004 – Mr Sheridan resigns for “personal reasons” and later that week announces he will sue the paper21 November, 2004 – The paper runs another story purporting to reveal “the real reasons” why Sheridan had stepped down4 July, 2006 – Thomas Sheridan v News Group Newspapers begins at the Court of Session4 August, 2006 – The politician wins his case and £200,000 in damages1 October, 2006 – The paper publishes details of a video in which Mr Sheridan is said to admit visiting a sex club16 December, 2007 – Mr Sheridan is detained as he leaves a radio station in Edinburgh and is charged with perjury17 February, 2008 – Gail Sheridan is charged with perjury4 October, 2010 – The couple’s perjury trial begins17 December, 2010 – Gail Sheridan is acquitted23 December, 2010 – Tommy Sheridan convicted of perjury
He sued after it printed allegations that he was an adulterer who had attended a swingers’ club.
The civil case tore the SSP apart as 11 colleagues testified against Sheridan, saying that he had admitted attending the sex club during a party meeting in 2004.
Sheridan won the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, however, and was awarded £200,000 damages.
Two months later, Edinburgh’s procurator fiscal ordered Lothian and Borders Police to investigate allegations of perjury during the case.
During the investigation, the News of the World also published details of a video tape, secretly recorded by Sheridan’s best man George McNeilage, in which the politician was alleged to have admitted visiting a swingers’ club in Manchester.
When the police probe concluded, Sheridan and his wife were charged with perjury.
The resulting trial at the High Court in Glasgow, which got under way in October, saw dozens of witnesses give evidence against the former MSP.
During the second week of the trial, Sheridan released his defence QC Maggie Scott and opted to represent himself – just as he had done successfully during the 2006 defamation action.
Like the civil case again, a number of former SSP colleagues stated that he had admitted the sex club visit at an executive meeting of the party in November 2004.
The trial also heard allegations of affairs with journalist Anvar Khan and former SSP colleague Katrine Trolle.
The video tape, which Sheridan’s best man George McNeilage sold to the News of the World, also formed a central part of the prosecution case.
In the final weeks of the trial, perjury charges against Gail Sheridan were dropped and she was acquitted.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC said it was no longer in the public interest to pursue them.
The number of perjury allegations against Mr Sheridan was also reduced from 18 to six.
As the trial came to a close, the Crown’s case centred on three key areas – what Sheridan was alleged to have said at the SSP meeting in November 2004, the alleged visit to the Manchester swingers’ club and the secret video tape recorded by Mr McNeilage.
In a marathon closing speech, lasting five hours over two days, Sheridan told the jury that the Crown witnesses were not credible or reliable.
He accused police of conducting “a vendetta” against him during their investigation and claimed the tape was a fabrication designed to incriminate him.
The jury, however, chose to believe the Crown’s case, and convicted him of perjury.
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