Tommy Sheridan and his wife appeared in court yesterday charged with lying under oath at the socialist politician’s libel trial against the News of the World. Mr Sheridan, 43, and his wife, Gail, 44, were greeted by cheering supporters outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where they appeared separately and in private. Neither made any plea or declaration and they were both released on bail.

As they emerged from the building they were cheered and clapped by about 50 supporters, who waved banners and placards declaring “End the vendetta”, while some chanted: “Shame on Lothians Police”.

Mr Sheridan, the permatanned former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, was charged with perjury in December after an investigation by Lothian and Borders Police. Detectives were asked to begin an inquiry after the trial judge raised concerns about contradictory testimony during Mr Sheridan’s epic libel battle against the newspaper. He was awarded £200,000 in damages after a jury decided that he had been libelled by a series of stories portraying him as a sex cheat who attended swingers’ clubs and took part in orgies. The News of the World is appealing against the verdict.

Mrs Sheridan, who told the Court of Session in Edinburgh that she would have murdered her husband and dumped his body in the Clyde had he been unfaithful, was charged with perjury last month. Her testimony was widely regarded as critical to her husband’s victory.

A total of seven people have been charged with lying under oath at the trial in 2006. The 23-day case, in which Mr Sheridan represented himself after sacking his legal team, turned him and his wife into Scotland’s most glamorous political couple.

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