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Gail Sheridan was cleared of perjury yesterday amid cheers from her supporters in court.
A brief round of applause broke out at the High Court in Glasgow after the Crown abandoned the two remaining allegations against her.
Advocate Depute Alex Prentice, QC, told the jury it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the case against her and that her personal circumstances had been taken into consideration.
A tearful Mrs Sheridan and her husband, who have a five-year-old daughter, hugged as the prosecutor announced the development.
Tommy Sheridan remains accused of lying under oath during his defamation action against the News of the World, which published a series of allegations about his private life. He denies the allegations against him.
The charges against his wife were dropped after Sheridan concluded his defence case at the end of the 11th week of proceedings, with a verdict expected next week.
On leaving court, solicitor John-Paul Mowberry escorted Mrs Sheridan to the waiting cameras and said: “All charges against Gail Sheridan have now been withdrawn.
“Gail wishes to thank her solicitor, JP Mowberry, and counsel, Paul McBride, QC, Billy Lavelle and Liam O’Donnell, for their representations on her behalf.
“After 44 days of trial, Gail stands clear from any criminal charge.”
As the trial got under way, Mrs Sheridan was accused of one charge of perjury, containing seven separate allegations that she made false statements at the civil case in 2006.
Only two allegations against the wife of the former MSP remained yesterday, largely because the Crown dropped the entire “Moat House” chapter of evidence, which related to allegations of a sex party at a Glasgow hotel, following the testimony of businessman Matthew McColl.
In court yesterday, Mr Prentice said: “I want to address your Lordship and ladies and gentlemen of the jury in relation to proceedings against the second accused.
“The ladies and gentlemen are aware that, following the evidence of Matthew McColl, I withdrew paragraphs two and three in relation to the chapter of evidence known as Moat House.
“I have also now had the opportunity to consider and review the whole of the Crown case against Mrs Sheridan now that all the evidence has been led.
“It is accepted by Mr McBride that a sufficiency of evidence has been led. I have considered that and measure it against the evidence given by Mrs Sheridan at the civil trial, which included the Moat House chapter.
“I am of the view, as I have not proceeded with that chapter of evidence and taking into account her personal circumstances, it is no longer necessary in the public interest to proceed any further in respect of Mrs Sheridan.”
Following the announcement, Lord Bracadale asked Mrs Sheridan, who was wearing a green shawl and holding a string of Rosary beads, to stand. “The Crown has dropped charge three against you. You are discharged from the dock and are free to go.”
Lord Bracadale then advised the jury about the final stages of the trial.
He said: “The next stage is you will be addressed by the Advocate Depute and then by Mr Sheridan. After that, I will give you the legal directions that you will require in order to reach a verdict. I propose that we will not start that process today.
“The programme that I have in mind is that the Advocate Depute will address you on Monday. In order to allow Mr Sheridan some time to reflect on submissions, he will address you on Tuesday. I anticipate that you will retire to consider your verdict sometime on Wednesday.”
Lord Bracadale told the jury “to put the case to the back of your mind and relax a bit” over the weekend.
The trial continues.
By Alison Campsie
Photographers will be waiting as usual on Monday for Gail Sheridan’s camera-ready appearance at the High Court in Glasgow.
However, on arrival, she will take her seat in the public gallery instead of the dock, where she has spent the past 11 weeks alongside her husband Tommy.
After the Crown dropped the remaining allegations against 46-year-old Mrs Sheridan, she is spending the weekend at home with the couple’s young daughter free from the prospect of a jail sentence for the first time since February 2008, when she was charged with perjury by Lothian and Borders Police.
She knows for sure that she will be with her little girl Gabrielle for Christmas and next week the former politician’s wife will witness the last stages of her husband’s case, with the jury likely to retire to consider its verdict on Wednesday, December 23.
Mrs Sheridan left court yesterday surrounded by supporters, including her sister Gillian and brother-in-law Andrew McFarlane, after her acquittal was met with applause from the public gallery.
She had been accused of making a number of false statements during her husband’s successful defamation action against the News of the World, in which he won £200,000. Only two allegations against her remained after the prosecution dropped a major chapter of evidence, and yesterday it was announced that it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the case against her.
By then, she had sat through 44 days of proceedings, listening to claims of a swingers’ club trip and a sex session involving her husband and young political activist Katrine Trolle on her marital bed.
Mrs Sheridan often sat with her head bowed during the most testing of testimonies, Rosary beads wrapped around her hands.
It was during Ms Trolle’s cross-examination by Paul McBride, QC, that Mrs Sheridan appeared to lose her composure for the first time. He referred to the "indignity" suffered by his client on hearing the witness’s evidence of being in the Sheridan home. The court was cleared for a brief adjournment as Mrs Sheridan was given a moment to gather herself.
Her emotions also seemed to break during her husband’s cross-examination of Scottish News of the World editor Bob Bird. Mrs Sheridan was referred to by her emotional husband as his "stunning wife". Later, it was claimed by Sheridan that the editor had shown no sense of responsibility to the health and wellbeing of his unborn child, printing kiss-and-tell claims about the former MSP while his wife, then 40, was in the early stages of her first pregnancy.
Tears came, too, when the court was told of a police raid on the family home after the arrest of her husband in 2007. Her sister told of Gabrielle Sheridan, then two, hiding behind the sofa in fear, wearing a Christmas dress ready for a party, as officers searched the home. A number of Mrs Sheridan’s belongings were taken.
Gail Healy became Mrs Sheridan in June 2000 in a white wedding at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church in Cardonald.
The two first knew each other as pupils at Lourdes Secondary School. The Sheridans have often been described as childhood sweethearts, although it has been noted that she would not have looked at him while they were pupils. As the high school beauty, she had her choice of suitors.
Their relationship grew when he was imprisoned in the early-1990s for his defiance of warrant sales. She worked around the world as a British Airways air hostess and enjoyed a successful career, sending postcards with messages of support from her trips overseas.
Later, she became a fixture in the lifestyle pages of the Scottish press, with cameramen invited into their sandstone home to picture the political power couple of Pollok.
Her diary, used in evidence in court, showed a string of such arrangements and a busy life of work, social events and family commitments.
Mrs Sheridan also became involved in the socialist cause. She had experience representing fellow cabin crew at British Airways and later stood as a council candidate in Pollok. She lost that fight but not this latest battle.
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