The moment finally came today when Tommy Sheridan, the former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, questioned his own wife in the witness box over allegations that he has been involved in drug-fuelled group sex and visits to swingers’ clubs.

Mr Sheridan, now representing himself in a £200,000 lawsuit against the News of the World which published the claims in 2004-05, called his wife, the air stewardess Gail Sheridan, as the final witness in his case.

He opened his examination of Mrs Sheridan, 42, with the line: "I appreciate this is an unusual situation and we know each other by first name.

"But for the purposes of the court, I’m going to refer to you as Mrs Sheridan."

Mrs Sheridan explained to the Court of Session in Edinburgh she had known the Glasgow MSP since they were both 14 years old. They had started dating in 1992, she said, but the relationship had not become serious until a year later. They married in June 2000.

The politician asked his wife if he had been candid about previous relationships. "Yes," she replied. "I knew you had lots of girlfriends because I knew you for years. I knew half the girlfriends you had."

He went on to ask her how she felt about the allegations that he had sex with another woman, the former SSP member, Katrine Trolle, in their home.

"Sick to the pit of my stomach," she said.

Mr Sheridan asked her if she believed the allegation.

"No I do not," she responded. "It’s a load of absolute rubbish. It’s the worst thing that any woman can be told that another woman was in your bed with her man.

"I never believed it."

She then looked at her husband across the packed courtroom and continued: "I believe you."

Mrs Sheridan went on to tell the jury she would have been in court on a murder charge if her husband had cheated on her, visited a swingers’ club and had taken part in orgies.
When he asked if she would have given evidence if she believed accusations against him she said:

"There is no way I would be here. You would be in the Clyde with a piece of concrete tied round you and I would be in court for your murder. I can assure you of that right now."

The court has earlier been told that Ms Trolle, 31, had a four-year relationship with Mr Sheridan, which included taking part in a threesome with the MSP and his brother-in-law, Andrew McFarlane.

The Danish-born former SSP member also said that she visited a Manchester swingers’ club with Mr Sheridan and had sex with him in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Mrs Sheridan said today she knew Ms Trolle socially and recounted an occasion when she saw her at the SSP conference in Perth in 2005 when Ms Trolle kissed her and touched her stomach as she was pregnant at the time.

She said that Ms Trolle had told her she was put under pressure by the News of the World and journalists had told her: "We will give you money to say you have had an affair with Tommy."

Mrs Sheridan told the jury she thought Ms Trolle had claimed to have an affair with her husband because she was friendly with the SSP treasurer, Allison Kane. She also named two SSP MSPs, Rose Kane and Carolyn Leckie, as being involved in a campaign to politically undermine her husband.

She said that she had told her husband a lot of people from had informed him about opposition within his own party. "I warned you. Your mother warned you. Your sisters warned you. People in the party warned you. People in the media warned you," she said.

As the questioning wore on, Mrs Sheridan broke down in the witness box as she told her husband of her pride at the way he has conducted himself during his defamation action.

"I have been proud of you all my life but I have never, never been more proud of you than I have the last four weeks in this court," she said.

"You are taking them on, the News of the World, and you're taking the legal establishment on. I have never been more proud of you."

At that - the last of his questions, Mr Sheridan sat down in tears.

The case continues.

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