By Michael Seamark
Last updated at 5:08 PM on 26th January 2011
- Sheridan's desperate plea for lenient sentence rejected
- Judge insists perjury has to be punished seriously
- Politician tells his wife to 'take care' as he's led away
- He vows to appeal AND launch action for phone hacking
Disgraced politician Tommy Sheridan was back behind bars for a third time tonight after being jailed for three years for perjury.
The 46-year-old Scot won 200,000 damages after cynically denying News of the World claims that he was an adulterer who attended a sordid swingers' sex club.
But on Christmas Eve, after a 12 week trial, he was convicted of lying and a judge told Sheridan today how he had 'brought the walls of the temple crashing down not only on your own head but also on your family and your political friends and foes' by pursuing his case against the newspaper.
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Sentenced: Staring straight back at the cameras, Tommy Sheridan is driven away in a prison van to begin his three-year prison term for perjury after claiming newspaper reports he was a swinger were false
Anger: Minutes after his sentencing, Gail Sheridan told reporters outside court that her husband would fight on
Salute: Gail Sheridan holds her right arm aloft. Four years ago, her husband did the same after his court victory
The Sunday tabloid has already lodged an appeal against the defamation action and if it pursues claims for its 1 million-plus legal costs the firebrand socialist faces bankruptcy.
Sheridan - who previously served time as part of an anti-poll tax campaign and then over an anti-Trident protest at Faslane nuclear submarine base - maintained his innocence through the trial.
He claimed he was the victim of a 'vendetta' by the police and a 'conspiracy' involving the News of the World and colleagues within the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP).
Jailed: Sheridan with his wife Gail and lawyer Aamer Anwar arriving at Glasgow High Court today
Support: Sheridan's wife holds his hand and (right) the ex-MSP looks upbeat despite the looming sentence
Up close: Sheridan greeting a supporter outside the court before his sentencing
The former SSP leader said 16 former allies were lying as part of a 'political civil war' when they told the High Court in Glasgow that he had admitted at a 2004 meeting having been to Cupid's swingers' club in Manchester.
Sheridan, who conducted his own defence, called Andy Coulson, a former NoW editor and Prime Minister David Cameron's ex- communications chief, to give evidence during the sensational trial.
TIMELINE TO JUSTICE
NOVEMBER 2004: Sheridan sues News of the World after it publishes series of stories alleging adultery and visits to a swingers' club.
AUGUST 2006: Politician denies allegations in court and jury awards him 200,000 in damages against News Group Newspapers.
OCTOBER 2006: His testimony seems to be blown apart after News of the World publishes secretly-recorded videotape in which Sheridan admits having visited sex club.
DECEMBER 2007: Sheridan arrested as he leaves Edinburgh radio station and charged with perjury.
FEBRUARY 2008: Gail Sheridan, who acted as supporting witness to her husband, also charged with perjury.
OCTOBER 2010: Couple's perjury trial begins.
DECEMBER 17: Gail Sheridan acquitted.
DECEMBER 23: Tommy Sheridan convicted of perjury.
JANUARY 26 2011: Sheridan jailed for three years.
But the jury found him guilty of perjury during the 2006 civil defamation case and lying about having an affair with SSP member Katrine Trolle.
In a 50-minute plea before sentencing yesterday, Sheridan asked for a 'proportionate and reasonable' sentence and referring to previous perjury cases, including those of former Conservative MPs Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aiken, said: 'This is not a murder trial. Nobody has been killed and neither has an innocent person been imprisoned.'
But the judge, Lord Bracadale, while praising him as a 'hard-working' politician, added:' When perjury is established it must be dealt with seriously for the benefit of the court and the public.
'You embarked on an action in the Court of Session knowing that, for it to be successful, you would be required to tell lies under affirmation.
'You committed perjury and you were awarded a very large sum in damages. The only appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment.'
Sheridan listened to the judge's comments in silence and stared straight ahead as he was hand-cuffed by dock officers.
As he was led away to the cells, he turned to his wife Gail - who was acquitted of the same charge last year - and said: 'Take care, all the best'.
She sat in the front of the courtroom, as close as possible to her husband, as the judge delivered his sentence and led the politician and former Celebrity Big Brother contestant's family, friends and comrades in a one-fisted salute as he was taken to the cells.
Former party activist Katrine Trolle had a fling with Sheridan and went to Cupids swingers' club with him
Sheridan described his punishment as 'heartbreaking' and vowed to keep fighting.
In a statement read outside court by his solicitor, Aamer Anwar, he said:' This multi-million pound prosecution will separate me from my wife and my child and that will be heartbreaking.
'But I will continue to fight a system that protects the real criminals - the rich and powerful.'
He intends to appeal against his perjury conviction and launch a legal action against the News of the World, the Metropolitan Police and private detective Glenn Mulcaire over the phone-hacking scandal surrounding the newspaper.
His statement continued: 'Andy Coulson may have resigned for the second time but if he and others are not above the law then it is time that they faced justice. That chapter is yet to be written.'
Outside court, Mrs Sheridan said: 'Tommy has dedicated his life to helping others. The real reason why he's been imprisoned today is because he has fought injustice and inequality with every beat of his heart. But it won't be long before Tommy is back stronger and continuing the fight.'
A News of the World spokesman said: 'This is a just outcome to a long and complex criminal case. Today's sentence also provides closure for the many witnesses who very bravely exposed their own lives to public scrutiny when they testified to Mr Sheridan's guilt.
'Mr Sheridan has been jailed for lying to a court to secure victory when he sued the News of the World for defamation in 2006. At the time he was an elected member of the Scottish Parliament.
Change of fortune: The Sheridans after winning the defamation case in August 2006
'As we have made clear, we have an appeal lodged against that defamation verdict and we now look forward to that appeal succeeding in Scotland's Court of Session.'
Scottish Socialist Party members Frances Curran and Colin Fox said: 'He alone is responsible for where he sleeps tonight, no-one else.
'He pursued legal action full in the knowledge he would lie in court. He asked his closest political allies and friends to join him in that crazy strategy and then turned on us because we refused. '
Make you wonder how many more have received this type of money and shouldn't have done?
- N Williams, UK, 26/1/2011 13:26
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