Sheridan v News International
Encyclopedia
Sheridan v News Group Newspapers (Thomas Sheridan v News Group Newspapers Ltd) is a civil court case brought by Tommy Sheridan
against the publishers of the News of the World
, which began in the Court of Session
in Edinburgh
, Scotland, on 4 July 2006. He alleged that the News of the World defamed his character through a series of articles in their publication.
Although Sheridan's case was upheld, he was later prosecuted for perjury
for lies that he supposedly told the court and was convicted in HM Advocate v. Sheridan and Sheridan. The soundness of this conviction is being reviewed.
(SSP) in 1998. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament
in 1999 as a Glasgow representative of the SSP which he remained until he broke with the SSP in the aftermath of the court case to form Solidarity
.
He was the convenor of the SSP from its formation until 11 November 2004 when he was asked to resign from this post, by a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee (EC) of the SSP.
He later claimed to have resigned due to 'personal reasons' citing a desire to spend more time with his family. At the time of his announcement, his wife Gail was expecting their first child, and this was the reason Sheridan cited as being his primary motivation for resigning:
"I cannot continue to be the party convener and be a proper father. We are entering uncharted waters, Gail and I. We are older parents, and we are excited but petrified. Since the announcement of Gail's pregnancy, it has focused my mind completely. We have been discussing this for some weeks."
After this announcement, the News of the World ran a series of articles, alleging that he had committed adultery
. Sheridan strenuously denied the accusations and quickly announced his intention to sue. The EC of the Scottish Socialist Party requested that he pursued a political rather than legal response to the allegations and declined to publicly back his court case.
As part of their defence, the News of the World demanded that the Scottish Socialist Party hand over all documents related to the executive meeting immediately prior to Tommy Sheridan's resignation. The executive Committee of the party declined and publicly requested that Sheridan abandon his court case. In refusing to hand over the documents, party policy co-ordinator Alan McCombes
was found in contempt of court and jailed for 12 days, while the SSP offices and McCombes' private home were raided by messengers-at-arms
.
A stormy meeting of the SSP National Council fairly narrowly defeated a motion from the EC to continue refusing to hand over the minutes to the court, effectively supporting a request by Sheridan that they should be handed over. It also voted to give him "full political support" in his defamation action.
" clubs in Sheffield and Manchester and had engaged in an adulterous affair with another woman. Sheridan, who claims to be teetotal
, was also alleged to have drunk champagne during an extramarital liaison. Sheridan denied these allegations.
Allison Kane, SSP Treasurer, alleged in Court that Sheridan had admitted to a party meeting that the allegations concerning his private life were true, but that the newspaper would be unable to prove them. She told the Court that the controversial minute which the party had sought to withhold had noted this. Alan McCombes
, the SSP official who had previously been jailed for refusing to hand over minutes of a party meeting when required to do so as part of this litigation, told the Court that Sheridan had admitted to him that he had visited swingers clubs. According to the testimony of 11 SSP members who were at the meeting, including Colin Fox
, Carolyn Leckie
, Allan Green, Rosie Kane
, Catriona Grant
, Keith Baldassara, Jo Harvie and Barbara Scott, Sheridan admitted to a meeting of the SSP executive that he had visited Cupids in Manchester.
On 14 July a controversial incident occurred during the presentation of the pursuer's case. Graeme Henderson, the junior advocate for the pursuer, suggested to witness Ann Colvin that she had a conviction for credit card fraud. This was untrue, which led to the judge warning Henderson that he had broken the Faculty of Advocates code of conduct. As a result of the incident, Sheridan dismissed his legal team and represented himself thereafter.
Anvar Khan testified in court that, as well as having sex with Sheridan while he was married, she witnessed Sheridan engaging in group sex with Katrine Trolle, an SSP candidate in 2003, and Sheridan's brother-in-law. Trolle later testified that these allegations were true and that she had visited Cupid's swingers' club with Sheridan and his wife's sister's husband, where they indulged in group sex. Two of Trolle's friends also testified that they had met Sheridan in the home they shared with Trolle, and saw Sheridan go upstairs to her bedroom with her.
Two other women claimed to have seen Sheridan engaging in group sex in a Glasgow hotel on another occasion. One of these witnesses claimed to have been threatened by someone allegedly trying to protect Sheridan. These witnesses had attempted to sell their stories.
In total, 18 witnesses testified that they had either had sexual relations with Sheridan while he was married, witnessed him taking part in sex sessions or had heard him admit to visiting a swingers' club.
National Union of Journalists
Scottish Organiser Paul Holleran admitted advising both Anvar Khan and Tommy Sheridan, both of whom were NUJ members on opposing sides during the case, though only Khan was primarily a journalist. Under questioning, Holleran admitted to having passed on details of confidential discussions with Ms Khan - also an NUJ member - to Sheridan to assist Sheridan's case against the News of the World.
Six witnesses who had been at the crucial meeting were also called to support Sheridan's claim that the minute was not accurate in that he had denied visiting the swingers' club, rather than confessing as had been recorded. Among those witnesses was fellow MSP Rosemary Byrne
.
.
immediately announced the newspaper intended to appeal the verdict on the basis it implied "eighteen independent witnesses came to this court and committed monstrous acts of perjury".
On 2 October 2006, the Procurator Fiscal
decided that there were grounds for an investigation into perjury, and instructed Lothian and Borders Police
to proceed with one. On 21 February 2007, The Herald reported that the Crown Office had asked Lothian and Borders Police
undertake a full inquiry after receiving a preliminary report, which was scaled up in May 2006, with the number of officers assigned to the case doubling to 20.
On 19 October 2006, it was reported that the police had interviewed a member of the SSP, and were intending to seize computing equipment that had been used to type the minutes of party meetings. Further details regarding the progress of the investigation were reported in The Scotsman
and the Sunday Herald
during March-April 2007, suggesting that Lothian and Borders Police were investigating the evidence of several of the key witnesses in the case, and had reached a conclusion with respect to the disputed minute.
On 16 December 2007 Tommy Sheridan was charged with perjury
. During February 2008 six more people were charged with perjury; they were Graeme McIver, Jock Penman, Pat Smith and Rosemary Byrne
(all members of Sheridan's new party Solidarity
who had been at the disputed SSP EC meeting of November 2004) plus Sheridan's wife, Gail and her father, Angus Healy.
It is estimated that the costs of this investigation may reach £500,000, although it is unclear how this compares with similar investigations into perjury allegations against less well known individuals. Sheridan has previously stated "the streets of Lothian must be crime-free if the police can devote time to harassing a family", following the charging of two with perjury, not to mention five others who "are my friends".
The trial of Tommy and Gail Sheridan started on 4 October 2010 at the Glasgow High Court
, before Lord Bracadale, with a jury of 13 women and 2 men. It concluded on the 23 December, with all charges against Gail Sheridan earlier being dropped on the 17 December and Tommy Sheridan being found guilty of five of the original twelve perjury charges.
's investigation into the matter
On 10 October 2006, BBC News reported that Grampian police were investigating a claim by Fiona McGuire, who had been a witness in the trial for the News of the World, that she had received a death threat through the post. In a statement to the BBC, Mr Sheridan said: "I utterly condemn any threats to Fiona McGuire or any other individual". Helen Allison, a witness in the case told police that she had been lured to a meeting where she was pressed not to give evidence. The police have investigated staff at the sex club allegedly being offered bribes not to cooperate with the police inquiry into the court case
However as of July 2011 no formal action has been taken over these allegations.
Tommy Sheridan
Tommy Sheridan is a Scottish socialist politician. He has had various prominent roles within the socialist movement in Scotland and is currently one of two co-convenors of the left-wing Scottish political party Solidarity....
against the publishers of the News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
, which began in the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland, on 4 July 2006. He alleged that the News of the World defamed his character through a series of articles in their publication.
Although Sheridan's case was upheld, he was later prosecuted for perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
for lies that he supposedly told the court and was convicted in HM Advocate v. Sheridan and Sheridan. The soundness of this conviction is being reviewed.
Background
Tommy Sheridan was a leading figure in the negotiations to establish the Scottish Socialist Alliance in 1996, which evolved into the Scottish Socialist PartyScottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....
(SSP) in 1998. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in 1999 as a Glasgow representative of the SSP which he remained until he broke with the SSP in the aftermath of the court case to form Solidarity
Solidarity (Scotland)
Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel action...
.
He was the convenor of the SSP from its formation until 11 November 2004 when he was asked to resign from this post, by a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee (EC) of the SSP.
He later claimed to have resigned due to 'personal reasons' citing a desire to spend more time with his family. At the time of his announcement, his wife Gail was expecting their first child, and this was the reason Sheridan cited as being his primary motivation for resigning:
"I cannot continue to be the party convener and be a proper father. We are entering uncharted waters, Gail and I. We are older parents, and we are excited but petrified. Since the announcement of Gail's pregnancy, it has focused my mind completely. We have been discussing this for some weeks."
After this announcement, the News of the World ran a series of articles, alleging that he had committed adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
. Sheridan strenuously denied the accusations and quickly announced his intention to sue. The EC of the Scottish Socialist Party requested that he pursued a political rather than legal response to the allegations and declined to publicly back his court case.
As part of their defence, the News of the World demanded that the Scottish Socialist Party hand over all documents related to the executive meeting immediately prior to Tommy Sheridan's resignation. The executive Committee of the party declined and publicly requested that Sheridan abandon his court case. In refusing to hand over the documents, party policy co-ordinator Alan McCombes
Alan McCombes
Alan William McCombes has been a leading member of the Scottish Socialist Party for several years, and was the editor of the Scottish Socialist Voice.-Background:...
was found in contempt of court and jailed for 12 days, while the SSP offices and McCombes' private home were raided by messengers-at-arms
Messenger-at-arms
A messenger-at-arms is an officer of the Scottish Court of Session, responsible for serving documents and enforcing court orders throughout Scotland. Messengers-at-arms must have a commission as a sheriff officer although, unlike sheriff officers, the jurisdiction of a messenger-at-arms is not...
.
A stormy meeting of the SSP National Council fairly narrowly defeated a motion from the EC to continue refusing to hand over the minutes to the court, effectively supporting a request by Sheridan that they should be handed over. It also voted to give him "full political support" in his defamation action.
Defender's case
The jury heard allegations that Sheridan had visited "swingers'Swinging
Swinging or partner swapping is a non-monogamous behavior, in which both partners in a committed relationship agree, as a couple, for both partners to engage in sexual activities with other couples as a recreational or social activity...
" clubs in Sheffield and Manchester and had engaged in an adulterous affair with another woman. Sheridan, who claims to be teetotal
Teetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
, was also alleged to have drunk champagne during an extramarital liaison. Sheridan denied these allegations.
Allison Kane, SSP Treasurer, alleged in Court that Sheridan had admitted to a party meeting that the allegations concerning his private life were true, but that the newspaper would be unable to prove them. She told the Court that the controversial minute which the party had sought to withhold had noted this. Alan McCombes
Alan McCombes
Alan William McCombes has been a leading member of the Scottish Socialist Party for several years, and was the editor of the Scottish Socialist Voice.-Background:...
, the SSP official who had previously been jailed for refusing to hand over minutes of a party meeting when required to do so as part of this litigation, told the Court that Sheridan had admitted to him that he had visited swingers clubs. According to the testimony of 11 SSP members who were at the meeting, including Colin Fox
Colin Fox
Colin Fox is the national spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party, and a former member for Lothian in the Scottish Parliament...
, Carolyn Leckie
Carolyn Leckie
Carolyn Leckie is a Scottish Socialist Party politician, a former co-chair of the party, and former member of the Scottish Parliament....
, Allan Green, Rosie Kane
Rosie Kane
Rosemary "Rosie" Kane is a Scottish Socialist Party politician, and former Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow Region....
, Catriona Grant
Catriona Grant
Catriona Mary Grant is a founder member and former co-chair of the Scottish Socialist Party and the party's equalities spokesperson. She was instrumental in the split from the CWI international which established the SSP during the "Scottish Debate" of the late-90s.She was the chair of the...
, Keith Baldassara, Jo Harvie and Barbara Scott, Sheridan admitted to a meeting of the SSP executive that he had visited Cupids in Manchester.
On 14 July a controversial incident occurred during the presentation of the pursuer's case. Graeme Henderson, the junior advocate for the pursuer, suggested to witness Ann Colvin that she had a conviction for credit card fraud. This was untrue, which led to the judge warning Henderson that he had broken the Faculty of Advocates code of conduct. As a result of the incident, Sheridan dismissed his legal team and represented himself thereafter.
Anvar Khan testified in court that, as well as having sex with Sheridan while he was married, she witnessed Sheridan engaging in group sex with Katrine Trolle, an SSP candidate in 2003, and Sheridan's brother-in-law. Trolle later testified that these allegations were true and that she had visited Cupid's swingers' club with Sheridan and his wife's sister's husband, where they indulged in group sex. Two of Trolle's friends also testified that they had met Sheridan in the home they shared with Trolle, and saw Sheridan go upstairs to her bedroom with her.
Two other women claimed to have seen Sheridan engaging in group sex in a Glasgow hotel on another occasion. One of these witnesses claimed to have been threatened by someone allegedly trying to protect Sheridan. These witnesses had attempted to sell their stories.
In total, 18 witnesses testified that they had either had sexual relations with Sheridan while he was married, witnessed him taking part in sex sessions or had heard him admit to visiting a swingers' club.
Pursuer's case
On 28 July, the News of the World editor, in evidence, confessed that the newspaper had changed parts of their story. This followed earlier evidence where the newspaper's journalist Anvar Khan admitted that parts of her story had been sensationalised to help sell her book. She altered her story admitting that the alcohol, drugs and spanking had been added.National Union of Journalists
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...
Scottish Organiser Paul Holleran admitted advising both Anvar Khan and Tommy Sheridan, both of whom were NUJ members on opposing sides during the case, though only Khan was primarily a journalist. Under questioning, Holleran admitted to having passed on details of confidential discussions with Ms Khan - also an NUJ member - to Sheridan to assist Sheridan's case against the News of the World.
Six witnesses who had been at the crucial meeting were also called to support Sheridan's claim that the minute was not accurate in that he had denied visiting the swingers' club, rather than confessing as had been recorded. Among those witnesses was fellow MSP Rosemary Byrne
Rosemary Byrne
Rosemary Byrne is a Scottish political figure. She was a co-convenor of Solidarity and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland...
.
The judge's summation
On 4 August 2006, the judge commented in the course of his summing up that, due to the nature of the conflicting witness evidence, it may be necessary to investigate after conclusion of the case whether criminal charges should be brought against any witnesses for perjuryPerjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
.
The verdict
Later that day, the jury of six men and five women decided by a seven-four majority and after three hours deliberation that Tommy Sheridan had been defamed. The News of the World was ordered to pay damages of £200,000. However, this was not paid to Sheridan, as the News of the Worlds editor Bob BirdBob Bird
Bob Bird is the former editor of the Scottish edition of the defunct News of the World tabloid.He is best known for the widespread media coverage over his role in two trials involving former Scottish MSP Tommy Sheridan - the 2006 Sheridan v News International libel case and the 2010 HM Advocate v...
immediately announced the newspaper intended to appeal the verdict on the basis it implied "eighteen independent witnesses came to this court and committed monstrous acts of perjury".
Perjury investigation and Trial
In August 2006, Charlie McCarthy, an SSP spokesperson and former candidate, distributed to a number of newspapers an account of a meeting he claimed to have had with Tommy Sheridan where Sheridan allegedly made a number of comments about his personal life at variance with the evidence he gave in the court case. A number of other activists also came forward to claim that Sheridan had held similar meetings with them, in particular allegedly admitting that he had affairs and attended sex clubs. In October 2006, the News of the World released a videotape which allegedly taped Sheridan confessing to attending the club and admitting such to the SSP National ExecutiveOn 2 October 2006, the Procurator Fiscal
Procurator Fiscal
A procurator fiscal is a public prosecutor in Scotland. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland , conduct Fatal Accident Inquiries and handle criminal complaints against the police A procurator fiscal (pl. procurators fiscal) is a public prosecutor in Scotland. They...
decided that there were grounds for an investigation into perjury, and instructed Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police is the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian...
to proceed with one. On 21 February 2007, The Herald reported that the Crown Office had asked Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police
Lothian and Borders Police is the territorial police force for the Scottish council areas of the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian...
undertake a full inquiry after receiving a preliminary report, which was scaled up in May 2006, with the number of officers assigned to the case doubling to 20.
On 19 October 2006, it was reported that the police had interviewed a member of the SSP, and were intending to seize computing equipment that had been used to type the minutes of party meetings. Further details regarding the progress of the investigation were reported in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
and the Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
during March-April 2007, suggesting that Lothian and Borders Police were investigating the evidence of several of the key witnesses in the case, and had reached a conclusion with respect to the disputed minute.
On 16 December 2007 Tommy Sheridan was charged with perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
. During February 2008 six more people were charged with perjury; they were Graeme McIver, Jock Penman, Pat Smith and Rosemary Byrne
Rosemary Byrne
Rosemary Byrne is a Scottish political figure. She was a co-convenor of Solidarity and a former Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland...
(all members of Sheridan's new party Solidarity
Solidarity (Scotland)
Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel action...
who had been at the disputed SSP EC meeting of November 2004) plus Sheridan's wife, Gail and her father, Angus Healy.
It is estimated that the costs of this investigation may reach £500,000, although it is unclear how this compares with similar investigations into perjury allegations against less well known individuals. Sheridan has previously stated "the streets of Lothian must be crime-free if the police can devote time to harassing a family", following the charging of two with perjury, not to mention five others who "are my friends".
The trial of Tommy and Gail Sheridan started on 4 October 2010 at the Glasgow High Court
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court of Scotland.The High Court is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal. As a court of first instance, the High Court sits mainly in Parliament House, or in the former Sheriff Court building, in Edinburgh, but also sits from time...
, before Lord Bracadale, with a jury of 13 women and 2 men. It concluded on the 23 December, with all charges against Gail Sheridan earlier being dropped on the 17 December and Tommy Sheridan being found guilty of five of the original twelve perjury charges.
News of the World appeal
On 11 August 2006 the News of the World had lodged an appeal with the Court of Session in Edinburgh and on 13 February 2007 reported that a provisional date for the appeal hearing had been set in December 2007. On 25 September 2007 the appeal was suspended at the request of the News of the World until the inquiry into allegations of perjury is concluded.Allegations of witness intimidation
On 15 August 2006, Lord Turnbull wrote to the Faculty of Advocates about an allegation that Anne Colvin, a witness in the case, had a criminal record. and on 4 January 2007 The Herald reported the victim of this allegation was refused permission by Sheridan to the results of the Law SocietyLaw society
A Law Society in current and former Commonwealth jurisdictions was historically an association of solicitors with a regulatory role that included the right to supervise the training, qualifications and conduct of lawyers/solicitors...
's investigation into the matter
On 10 October 2006, BBC News reported that Grampian police were investigating a claim by Fiona McGuire, who had been a witness in the trial for the News of the World, that she had received a death threat through the post. In a statement to the BBC, Mr Sheridan said: "I utterly condemn any threats to Fiona McGuire or any other individual". Helen Allison, a witness in the case told police that she had been lured to a meeting where she was pressed not to give evidence. The police have investigated staff at the sex club allegedly being offered bribes not to cooperate with the police inquiry into the court case
However as of July 2011 no formal action has been taken over these allegations.