The wife of Tommy Sheridan has been charged with lying under oath during the socialist politician's high-profile libel trial against the News of the World.

Gail Sheridan, 44, whose testimony formed a central part of her husband's case during a 23-day trial in 2006, was charged with perjury after six hours' questioning by detectives. Her father, Gus Healy, 71, who also testified at the trial, was also charged.

The move comes two months after officers charged Mr Sheridan with perjury.

A police spokesman said tonight: "A 44-year-old woman has been charged and released in connection with an ongoing Lothian and Borders Police investigation. A report will be sent to the procurator fiscal. Enquiries are continuing with regards to others."

Aamer Anwar, the Sheridans' lawyer, confirmed that Mrs Sheridan had been charged with perjury. He said: "Mr and Mrs Sheridan maintain their innocence and have stated that they are disgusted at the way they have been treated by the police and are determined to fight this."

Within the past 10 days three more of Mr Sheridan's colleagues - including a former MSP - have also been charged. Rosemary Byrne, 59, who lost her seat in the Scottish Parliament last year, Graeme McIver, 39, and Jock Penman, 58, were charged with perjury after voluntarily reporting to police for questioning.

All three testified on Mr Sheridan's behalf and are now members of his newly formed Solidarity party. In a statement today, the party repeated its claim that Mr Sheridan and his colleagues were the victims of a "political witch-hunt". A spokesman said: "The only crime that Tommy Sheridan is guilty of is the crime of speaking truth to power."

The former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, known for his rousing speeches and self-confessed love of sunbeds, was awarded £200,000 after a jury decided that he had been libelled by stories portraying him as a sex cheat who attended swingers' clubs and took part in orgies. The News of the World is appealing the verdict.

Dressed in a black coat, black knee-high boots and dark sunglasses, Mrs Sheridan had earlier refused to comment as she arrived with her father and husband at Edinburgh's Gayfield Square police station.

Just 18 months ago Mrs Sheridan and her father gave evidence at her husband's trial, which ended in an astonishing victory for Mr Sheridan.

Mr Healy testified to the court that his son-in-law was with him on consecutive Friday nights in the summer of 2002. Two women had earlier described seeing Mr Sheridan having group sex in a Glasgow hotel on either the first or second Friday in June that year.

In an electrifying performance, Mrs Sheridan told the Court of Session that she would have murdered her husband had he been unfaithful to him.

To laughter and gasps of astonishment from the packed public gallery, she said: "There's no way I would be here with you and neither would you be. You'd be in the [River] Clyde with a piece of concrete tied around you and I'd be in court for your murder. You believe that right now."

In a 23-day trial that produced some of Scotland's most astonishing courtroom scenes in recent memory, Mrs Sheridan fought back tears as she denied that her husband had cheated on her.

Asked why she did not believe that her husband had visited a swingers' club in Manchester, she said: "Because I trust you. But I have also checked my diaries." She said that her husband was so "boring" that he hardly ever went out at weekends, preferring instead to stay at home and play Scrabble.

The British Airways air stewardess told the court: "Every weekend he was supposed to be hanging from the chandeliers he has been with me."

As well as captivating the jury, Mrs Sheridan's performance won her plaudits far beyond the courtroom, with media commentators praising her as a stylish, plain-speaking wife prepared to stand by her man through thick and thin.

Possibly the most memorable exchange came when Mrs Sheridan was asked to comment on suggestions that her husband allegedly enjoyed having ice cubes rolled over his naked bodies by strangers.

She replied: "You're like a monkey...Anybody that was rolling an ice cube round your body would have had a hairball in their throat."

The theme was later reprised by Mr Sheridan, who asked the jury to consider why none of the women who claimed to have slept with him had mentioned his hairy body. "I'm sure if it's challenged, my lord would allow me to physically derobe and I would be prepared to do that," Mr Sheridan told the court. Sadly, his offer was not taken up.

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