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Scottish sex scandal court case nears climax
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By Gideon Long
LONDON (Reuters) - Spanking, four-in-a-bed sex, ice
cubes rubbed over naked bodies, a charismatic
politician, his glamorous wife and a former prostitute
called "Christy Babe."
Even by the standards of British political sex
scandals, the allegations made in court over the past
month during the case of Scottish politician Tommy
Sheridan have been salacious.
Sheridan, a 42-year-old socialist member of the
Scottish parliament with a round-the-year suntan and a
taste for sharp suits, is suing the News of the World
newspaper over allegations it made in 2004.
Under headlines like "My kinky 4-in-a-bed orgy with
Tommy," the newspaper claimed Sheridan cheated on his
wife and went to seedy night clubs for group sex.
Sheridan denies the claims and is seeking damages. In
doing so, he has opened a Pandora's Box of colorful
accusations and denials, all reported in full by
Britain's tabloid newspapers.
"From four in a bed to five in a bed. From five in a
bed to sex clubs, from sex clubs to champagne, from
champagne to cocaine and from cocaine to orgies in a
hotel slap bang in the middle of Glasgow," Sheridan
told the court Wednesday, summing up the case against
him.
"The allegations in the course of this case have been
as numerous as grains of sand in the Sahara Desert
..."
"Christy Babe" -- real name Fiona McGuire -- is a
32-year-old former prostitute who said she had sex
with Sheridan over four years, starting shortly after
the politician's marriage to childhood sweetheart Gail
in 2000.
McGuire's allegations, and those of two other women,
formed the basis of the News of the World reports. The
paper is standing by its stories, saying the guts of
them -- if not every last detail -- are true.
To add to the drama, Sheridan sacked his entire legal
team half way through the case and called his wife as
a witness.
Gail Sheridan, 42, gave a passionate defense of her
husband and said she would have killed him and dumped
his body in Glasgow's river Clyde if she believed the
allegations.
"You would be in the Clyde with a piece of concrete
tied round you and I would be in court for your
murder," she said.
Gail Sheridan also said McGuire had obviously never
had sex with her husband because, if she had, she
would have mentioned his hairy body in her
kiss-and-tell revelations.
"You are like a monkey, so anybody rolling an ice cube
around your body would end up with a hairball ..." she
told her husband across the packed court room. "There
is more hair on your body than there is on your head."
In a slightly back-handed defense of her husband, Gail
Sheridan told the court he was "boring" and was more
interested in playing Scrabble than socializing. He
was not the kind of man who would indulge in group
sex, she said.
The prosecution is to wrap up its case Thursday.
If Sheridan wins, the News of the World will face a
libel bill of several hundred thousand pounds. If he
loses, he faces financial ruin.
"It's my life and reputation that is on the line," he said.
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