Tommy Sheridan spoke of his "disgust, dismay and disenchantment" after his wife Gail and her father were charged with perjury for backing him in court at his 2006 defamation action.
In a day of high drama at Gayfield Square police station in Edinburgh, news crews gathered in freezing fog for developments in the Sheridan saga. Just after one o'clock yesterday the former MSP arrived driving the family's silver grey Honda CRV, carrying his wife Gail, her father Gus Healy and Solidarity's Lothians organiser John Wight.
He and Mr Wight soon left for a coffee shop to await news of Mr Healy and Mrs Sheridan. Mr Healy was held for four hours, charged and released, while Mrs Sheridan was held for the maximum six hours before she emerged with her husband.
Police revealed that on Sunday they had charged a 59-year-old woman in connection with the same investigation and that is understood to be former Socialist Party executive member Pat Smith. Last week, two other party activists, Jock Penman, 58, and Graham McIver, 39, were charged, as was former Socialist MSP Rosemary Byrne, 59.
So by last night the "Sheridan Seven" were all charged and it will now be up to the Crown Office to decide on a prosecution strategy. But Mr Sheridan was in no doubt that the case amounted to a witch-hunt against him and his friends and relatives at the behest of the Murdoch newspaper empire.
Gail Sheridan wore her best winter black outfit when she arrived at lunchtime. The dark glasses again gave nothing away as she emerged after 7pm, while her father looked less prepared for the media circus.
Tommy Sheridan bristled with anger as he said: "Can I just say we are really restricted in terms of what we are allowed to say on legal advice.
"The Lothian and Borders Police have today detained a 71-year-old grandfather for over four hours and charged him with perjury.
"They have detained a 44-year-old mother of one who has never been in trouble in her life for over six hours and charged her with perjury. It would appear the streets of Edinburgh and the Lothians must be crime-free. The police have got so much time on their hands that they can harass a family and a group of people who have committed no crime other than being friends of mine or related to me.
"We as a family are disgusted about the way we have been treated. We are dismayed and disenchanted by the behaviour of Lothian and Borders Police, but we are also determined that we will fight on to prove our innocence because our family and friends have done nothing to be ashamed of and certainly do not deserve the treatment that we have been subjected to.
"I really do want to raise the question how Lothian and Borders Police can find the time and the resources to conduct this vendetta against my family and friends.
"There will be no more comments from us. I would appreciate, given that we have come here and faced you, that you stay away from our home. We have a two-and-a-half year-old daughter that has already been traumatised by the behaviour of Lothian and Borders police invading and ransacking our home days before Christmas. We would appreciate if you would not disturb our daughter any longer.
"We have made our statement. It's all we are allowed to say. I apologise that you have had to wait so long."
Mr Sheridan, a former Glasgow MSP, won his defamation case against the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World in August, 2006, and was awarded £200,000 in damages.
The tabloid had branded him an adulterer and claimed he had visited Cupids swingers club in Manchester and had taken part in group sex sessions. Mr Sheridan has always denied the claims.
The trial judge, Lord Turnbull, voiced his concerns about the contradictory nature of the evidence given during the trial and a month later, the Crown Office ordered Lothian and Borders Police to launch a perjury investigation.
During the trial, Mr Sheridan called Rosemary Byrne as a witness and she denied claims that he had admitted visiting the swingers club during an SSP meeting on November 9, 2004, to discuss the newspaper's claims.
Mr Penman and Mr McIver also backed Sheridan's version of events in court.
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