Facing jail for sex lies

Tommy Sheridan, the charismatic former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), was found guilty of perjury this week after he was judged to have lied his way to victory in a defamation case against a tabloid newspaper four years ago.

At the end of the longest perjury trial in Scottish legal history, which also proved to be one of the most colourful ever heard at Glasgow High Court, the jury concluded the 46-year-old had been dishonest during his libel action against the News of the World, which had accused him of committing adultery and visiting a sex club. He won £200,000 ($413,000) after winning the case in 2006.

After the 12 weeks of the trial, which heard evidence from more than 70 witnesses, a majority of the 12 women and two men of the jury ultimately rejected Sheridan's claim that he had been the victim of a political conspiracy. Instead, they concluded that the man who had been a member of the Scottish Parliament for eight years was attempting to deceive his way out of trouble for a second time, convicting him on five of the six perjury charges he faced.

He was told he can now expect to go to jail when he is sentenced next month.

Drama was present from the start of proceedings, with Sheridan dispensing with the services of his widely respected Scottish counsel, Maggie Scott QC, to cross-examine witnesses himself. It was a decision that saw him clash directly with former friends, political allies and lovers.

Witnesses described how he admitted visiting a swingers' club, Cupids, in Manchester, on two occasions. On the first day of the perjury hearing, the court was told he had admitted to colleagues that he had made the visits.

In all, 16 witnesses - including the party's current leader, Colin Fox - described how Sheridan had admitted to the allegations at an emergency executive meeting of the SSP. Sheridan accused them of forming part of a political conspiracy to undermine him.

Former lovers also testified against him. Katrine Trolle flew in from Denmark to give her evidence, describing a four-year affair. She told the court about how she had sex with Sheridan in his marital bed, beneath a wedding photo. She said she had engaged in a threesome with Sheridan and his brother-in-law. Anvar Khan, a NOTW columnist also appeared in court to reveal she had an on-off sexual relationship with Sheridan for eight years.

Sheridan even summoned Andy Coulson, former NOTW editor and now director of communications at Downing Street, to the witness box. While Sheridan claimed Coulson was involved in a conspiracy against him, he responded by saying the former politician was living in a "parallel world".

In his final attempt to convince the jury, Sheridan gave a 4-hour speech, pleading with them not to separate him from his wife and daughter. Perjury charges against his wife, Gail, were dropped last week. Prosecutors reduced the number of perjury charges against Sheridan to help focus the deliberations of the jury. Sheridan's solicitor, Aamer Anwar, read a statement on his behalf: "I make no apology for taking on the might of Rupert Murdoch," it said.

- The Independent