Tommy Sheridan convicted of perjury in NOTW defamation case

A former MSP has been found guilty of lying in a defamation case against the News of the World that he won in 2006.

Tommy Sheridan was found guilty of perjury last night after a 12-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow, which has featured witness appearances from former News of the World editor Andy Coulson and the paper's Scotland editor Bob Bird.

In 2006, Sheridan won £200,000 in damages from the News of the World, which had published a series of stories from 2004 onwards about his sex life. But yesterday a jury found him guilty of five out of six allegations of perjury relating to the defamation case.

The paper will now seek to appeal the defamation verdict handed out in 2006.

"We are pleased that justice has been done and that Mr Sheridan's perjury has been proved," a statement from the News of the World says.

"As is now clear, Mr Sheridan lied to a court to secure victory when he sued the News of the World for defamation in 2006. We have an appeal lodged against that defamation verdict and we now look forward to that appeal succeeding in Scotland's Court of Session.

"The News of the World has a proud history of exposing the hypocrisy and lies of the powerful. Today's verdict is a vindication of good investigative journalism. We hope and expect our successful appeal to bring an end to this matter."

Sheridan will be sentenced on 26 January. Last night his solicitor Amar Anwar read out a statement from Sheridan following the verdict: "For three years my wife and I have faced charges of perjury. Today, I was convicted and Gail [his wife] was acquitted of any crime. I have fought the power of News International all my political life, and I make no apologies for taking on the might of Rupert Murdoch.

"Several million pounds of public money was spent investigating me and my wife. Is it not time that similar resources were devoted to investigating the activities of the News of the World?"

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