Ex-MSP Sheridan and wife facing perjury charges

Former Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail walked hand in hand into court today to face perjury charges following his newspaper defamation case.

The couple, from Glasgow, formally entered pleas of not guilty to the charges at a preliminary hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The trial was set to begin on 11 January next year at the High Court in Glasgow.

Today was the first time the case had been called in a public court since the couple, both 45, were served with legal papers confirming that the prosecution would go ahead.

Sheridan was arrested in December 2007 after a probe into allegations of lying under oath during his successful £200,000 action against the News of the World at the Court of Session in the Scottish capital.

His wife was charged with perjury by police in February last year.