Sheridans To Face Perjury Trial
Scottish socialist firebrand Tommy Sheridan is to stand trial on perjury charges in connection with his successful libel case against the News of the World.
Mr Sheridan’s wife, Gail, also faces prosecution for lying under oath.
The couple, both 44, were served indictment papers today, their lawyer, Aamer Anwar revealed. The extraordinary turn of events came less than a week after Mr Sheridan appeared as a contestant on Channel 4’s Celebrity Big Brother programme. Last Wednesday he became the fifth person to be evicted from the show.
The charges relate to evidence given during Mr Sheridan’s defamation victory against the News of The World in 2006. The newspaper had published allegations about his private life, including claims he was a “swinger” who took part in orgies and cheated on his wife.
Although Mr Sheridan was awarded £200,000 in damages after a jury ruled he had been libelled, Lothian and Borders Police began an inquiry after the trial judge raised concerns about “contradictory evidence” during the case. Just over a year later, in December 2007, Mr Sheridan was arrested at the premises of Talk 107 in Edinburgh, where he had been presenting a radio-phone show, and charged with perjury. His wife was also charged in February last year.
The Crown Office said today the indictment contained a charge of perjury against the politician and another charge of attempting to persuade someone else to commit perjury. His wife faces one charge of perjury. The couple deny the charges.
At a press conference, Mr Anwar read a statement confirming the couple would stand trial.
He said: "I can confirm that an indictment was served today for charges of perjury against Thomas and Gail Sheridan.
"A preliminary hearing is fixed for 26 February 2009 at the High Court in Edinburgh and a trial will then be fixed for later on in the year.
"As proceedings are live it would be inappropriate to comment further, other than to state that both Mr and Mrs Sheridan maintain their innocence and are determined to fight this.
"There will be no further statements or interviews and we would ask the media to respect the Sheridan family's privacy."
The prospect of prosecution is just the latest dramatic episode in Mr Sheridan’s colourful life. When the Respect politician challenged the News of the World claims the trial fixated Scotland and made the Sheridans the country's most glamorous political couple. Newspaper fashion critics regularly commented on the stylish outfits Mrs Sheridan, an air hostess, wore to court. A private hearing involving the couple at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March last year attracted a crowd of about 50 supporters, who clapped and cheered as the Sheridans emerged from the building.
Mr Sheridan came to prominence as a leading organiser of anti-poll tax protests in the late 1980s. It was while in prison for publicly tearing up a court order that he was elected as a councillor for the ward of Pollok in Glasgow, winning 52 per cent of the vote.
In 1999, the self-styled class warrior entered Holyrood as the Scottish Socialist Party’s sole member and four years later he helped achieve the remarkable feat of being re-elected along with another five SSP MSPs.
However, the party fractured in the run-up to Mr Sheridan's defamation case in 2006, resulting in some SSP colleagues, including several MSPs, giving evidence against him. After splitting with the party in the wake of the court case, the new party he formed, Solidarity, failed to win a single seat at the 2007 Holyrood elections. The SSP were also rejected by voters and now do not have any MSPs.
Since bowing out from politics, Mr Sheridan has hosted a chat show during the Edinburgh fringe and presented a radio talk show on Talk 107 until his arrest at the station last year, in addition to he appearance in this year's version of Celebrity Big Brother. Critics lambasted him for accepting an undisclosed sum for his appearance, but Mr Sheridan said it would help pay for his university fees to retrain as a lawyer. While in the Big Brother house he befriended Verne Troyer, the Hollywood actor who suffers from dwarfism, and Coolio, the US rapper known for his sexist lyrics. Mr Sheridan later said that he hoped to keep in touch with “his men”.
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