More than 20 court witnesses face the prospect of perjury charges after Tommy
Sheridan’s spectacular libel victory yesterday against the News of
the World.
Former colleagues of the firebrand socialist politician, as well as an
ex-prostitute and two other women who claimed to have had affairs with Mr
Sheridan, face investigation after the judge at the Court of Session in
Edinburgh questioned the honesty of evidence given during the marathon libel
trial.
Mr Sheridan, 42, the former Scottish Socialist Party leader, had sued the News
of the World over stories claiming that he cheated on his wife and took
part in orgies.
Punching the air as he walked down the steps of the court and into a throng of
ecstatic supporters, Mr Sheridan, a keen footballer, declared that his
victory was the equivalent of the tiny Gretna football club winning against
Real Madrid in Spain.
To cheers, he said: “Gretna have made it into Europe for the first time. What
we have done over the last five weeks is the equivalent of Gretna taking on
Real Madrid in the Bernabéu and beating them on penalties.”
In extraordinary scenes he hugged his grinning wife Gail and paid tribute to
his two sisters, whom he described as “the best amateur legal team in the
world”.
He told supporters: “Brothers and sisters, what today’s verdict proves is that
working-class people, when they listen to the arguments, can differentiate
the truth from the muck.”
The Glasgow MSP, who until five weeks ago was hardly known outside of
Scotland, appeared barely able to speak when, at 3.48pm, a court official
asked the jury of six men and five women for their verdict.
With the single word “Yes” they answered in favour of Mr Sheridan, but there
was confusion in the court as his wife, Gail, with a stunned look on her
face turned to the public gallery and asked: “What does it all mean?” As the
news sunk in, Mr Sheridan’s mother, Alice,muttered: “It’s all a dream”
before beginning to sob.
Mr Sheridan, who faced political, personal and financial ruin if he lost, will
receive damages of £200,000 for the allegations in the News of the
World, published over a series of articles in November 2004 and January
2005. They claimed that the married politician was a sex cheat who had a
series of extra-marital affairs and indulged in group sex and
cocaine-fuelled orgies.
Mr Sheridan’s supporters yesterday applauded the jury as they left the court
building after 2¾ hours of deliberations. They voted by seven to four for Mr
Sheridan.
Tourists on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile watched in bemusement as the sharp-suited
politician was pursued by photographers before being led by minders down a
side street and into a waiting car.
The News of the World vowed yesterday to appeal against what it
described as a “perverse” verdict. Bob Bird, the Editor of the newspaper’s
Scottish edition, who may himself face investigation, said: “This result
suggests that 18 independent witnesses came to the court and committed
monstrous acts of perjury. We simply cannot accept that.”
For the past five weeks the sign “Court Full” has hung outside the doors of
Court 6 at the Court of Session, while inside some of the most incredible
scenes ever witnessed in a Scottish courtroom have unfolded.
Those inside watched in open-mouthed astonishment as Mr Sheridan, until then
best known for his rousing street oratory and his love of sunbeds, accused
witness after witness of lying, spoke of “the mother of all stitch-ups” and
broke down in tears as he protested that he was a loving husband.
In an act of bluster that typified his performance, he drew laughter as he
offered to strip to prove that he was as “hairy as an ape”, a fact that none
of the women who claimed to have slept with him had mentioned.
After sacking his legal team only ten days into the trial, even the judge,
Lord Turnbull, questioned Mr Sheridan’s judgment.
At times the weight of evidence against him appeared overwhelming, with three
alleged former lovers testifying from the witness box and 11 party
colleagues claiming that he had confessed to visiting a swingers’ club in
Manchester.
While executives from the News of the World walked from the courtroom
in stunned silence after the verdict, Mr Sheridan thanked court staff and
hugged his wife.
Perhaps the most decisive testimony of all was that of Mrs Sheridan, 42, a
glamorous air hostess, who said that she would have murdered her husband had
he cheated on her.
Mr Sheridan’s former colleagues, who told the court that they had forced him
to resign as rumours mounted about his sexual antics, said last night that
they stood by their evidence.
During the trial counsel for the News of the World and Mr Sheridan
alike suggested that witnesses may be lying and at one stage Lord Turnbull
sent out the jury to warn one of Mr Sheridan’s witnesses. Above all, Lord
Turnbull said that he was concerned about the starkly differing accounts of
a meeting of the Scottish Socialist Party’s executive in November 2004.
Some 11 witnesses called by the News of the World told the court that
Mr Sheridan had confessed at the meeting to visiting a swingers’ club;
another four witnesses, this time called by Mr Sheridan, denied that he had
made such an admission.
In his closing remarks to the jury, Lord Turnbull said that it was “a very
sorry state to see so many senior members of a mainstream political party
giving contradictory evidence of each other about a meeting they were all
at”.
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said last night that it had not
received an official complaint from the court, but would begin a perjury
investigation if this happened.
More than 20 witnesses, including 18 not employed by the News of the World,
testified after being called by the newspaper. However, if a perjury
investigation is started detectives will also have to examine some of the
evidence given by Mr Sheridan and about ten witnesses who testified on his
behalf.
