Tommy Sheridan asked party comrade to lie for him, court is told

Former Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan asked a party colleague to lie for him after he admitted twice visiting a swingers' club, a court heard.

• Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail arrive at the High Court in Glasgow for the second day of the trial. Picture: PA

Alison Kane also claimed he asked her to "rattle some cages" to ensure minutes of a party meeting in which he told colleagues he had been to Cupid's Club in Manchester "disappeared".

Ms Kane was the second person to tell a perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow that Mr Sheridan had told an emergency meeting of the Scottish Socialist Party's executive that he had visited the club with some "close friends".

The former MSP and his wife Gail, both 46, are accused of lying under oath during Mr Sheridan's successful 2006 defamation action against the News of the World. They deny the allegations.

On the second day of the perjury trial, Ms Kane, the former treasurer of the Scottish Socialist Party, told the court Mr Sheridan had "lost the plot" and was "fighting for his political life" after he made the admission to the meeting at the party's headquarters in Stanley Street, Glasgow, on 9 November, 2004. She said he asked to meet her "four or five days" after the meeting and then asked her to lie about other members of the party and persuade remaining members of the committee to get rid of the minutes detailing his confession.

The 42-year-old, who has since left the party and now works as a part-time lecturer and accountant, said Mr Sheridan was "one of my best friends", but their friendship ended after she told the party's executive what he had asked her to do.

She told the court: "Tommy had wanted to meet with me. He was fighting for his political life and he saw me as a friend and an ally. He thought I would help him. He wanted me to meet with the press and say lies about other people. Tommy was aware of the minutes and he asked me to 'rattle some cages' so no minutes were produced.