Tommy The Trot's Perjury trial next week

Former SSP MSP Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail will stand trial for perjury with proceedings commencing next Thursday (27th March) in the Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Sheridan famously won last year a £200 000 libel settlement from the News of The World "newspaper" over allegations that he had visited a swingers club in Manchester. Subsequent investigations by Lothian & Borders Constabulary have seen 7 people, all of whom testified on Sheridan's side, arrested and charged with perjury. The News of the World is awaiting the outcome of the perjury trial before launching it's appeal against last year's verdict. Interestingly there is no maximum sentence in Scotland, technically someone found guilty could be sentenced to Life Imprisonment!

Sheridan's wife Gail has also been arrested and charged with the theft of miniature bottles of alcohol from her employer British Airways.

The impact of the original trial on the SSP was drastic as a large number of members and one other then MSP left with Sheridan to establish Solidarity. All SSP & Solidarity MSPs lost their seats in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections. In the recent Cambuslang East council by-election Solidarity could not stand a candidate and the SSP polled a derisory 32 1st preference votes out of 2594 cast.

Tommy The Trot update

It seems that Gail Sheridan and her Father have now also been charged with perjury, bringing the total to six persons who face the beak over their 2006 libel trial evidence.

Whilst having no sympathy or empathy with Tommy and his chums, I do wonder why no Police inquiry has been launched regarding the testimony of his former colleagues from the SSP as the Police seem to be saying that everything that he and his witnesses said was untrue.

It'll all come out in the wash.

Tommy The Trot's Tribulations (part 952)

Last year former MSP and former Leader of The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) won £200 000 in damages from the News of the World in a libel action at the High Court in Edinburgh, after they had alleged that he was a serial adulterer, swinger and user of drugs. Four of his SSP MSP colleagues testified against him in the trial and one, Rosemary Byrne, in his favour.

Sheridan and Byrne subsequently set up their own party Solidarity (calling a Trot faction by this name is a gross insult to Polish Solidarity) as an offshoot of the SSP. In the 2007 elections both factions got creamed and all 6 Trot MSPs were kicked out on their arses.

Shortly after the trial finished Lothian & Borders Constabulary commenced a investigation into potential perjury during the trial and on the 17th December 2007 Tommy Sheridan was charged with perjury. Earlier on this month former MSP Rosemary Byrne was charged as were Solidarity acolytes Jock Penman and Graham McIver.

Today the news breaks that his wife Gail and Father-in-Law Angus Healy are being questioned by Lothian & Border's finest over more perjury allegations. During the trial Gail claimed that Tommy would be "in the Clyde with a piece of concrete tied round him" if she thought there was any truth in the allegations. His Father-in-Law gave him an alibi for three of the times when he was supposedly taking part in threesomes in a Glasgow hotel.

The maximum penalty for perjury in Scotland is 10 years in prison.

Sheridan charged with perjury

After 6 hours of questioning Tommy Sheridan has been charged with perjury by Lothian & Borders Constabulary. He has been released from Police custody. More to follow in due course.
This one is going to be the "talk o' the steamie" here in the West of Scotland!