Sheridan wins defamation case

[Odysseus]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5246378.stm

A remarkable victory, and despite what you might think of his politics, he put his career and marriage on the line to defend himself against tabloid lies. Hopefully this will make trashrags like the NOTW think twice before printing deceitful stories.

[hr]

Walk into the bright lights of sorrow, oh drink a bit of wine and we both might go tommorow, my love...

[Jono]

I doubt it. They make a lucrative buisness in lies. The losses they make on the occasional case like this probably pale in comparison to the profits they make selling sensation on a daily basis.

[hr]


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[Otis redding]

i am so glad that the news of the world lost as i hate everything that sensationalist peice of crap stands for.

And i hope that people will stop buying such peices of shite that call themselves journalists and stop the sleaze addiction that the british public seems to have whilst drinking thier tea.

[ronald villiers]

And has also succeeded in destroying his own party as half of the parliamentary party have now been shown to have committed perjury. It was a no win situation for him - either he was ruined or his party would be ruined.

[hr]

There's nothing so lonesome, so morbid or drear
Than to stand in a bar, of a pub with no beer

[Colin]

One of those cases where you really hoped that both sides lost. To be fair, I have loved the case, and I am sure the press have too, as even the main stream (non tabloid) ones have got to report all of the salicious gossip as evidence in a court case, giving them a wonderful excuse to sell papers in a tabloid style while being morally superior. And either way, mud sticks, and Sheridan would have been much better not to cause himself all the negative publicity. But he is a big media whore who will do anything for attention, and therefore clearly works on the 'no such thing as bad press' mentality. The NOTW prints complete tripe - no big surprise there. But no one will remember that result, they will remember all of the fun accusations against Sheridan. And as said above, he has destroyed his party in persuing this: as the SSP = Sheridan, it was lose lose for them politically, so I don't know why he went for it.

* Disclaimer. The above may make no sense. I have been drinking.

[Cain]

what happens if, in the criminal cases, the SSP members are found innocent of perjury?

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

[ronald villiers]

what happens if, in the criminal cases, the SSP members are found innocent of perjury?

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

[Frank]

I get the sneaking feeling that it wasn't so much Sheridan that destroyed the SSP as much as those that were left behind. I mean: what were they playing at?

Sheridan'll just set himself up as an independent socialist MSP again at somepoint down the line, or become a bit of a political commentator for some reason or another. It's not over for him considering his career as SSP head honcho was done when he gave it up a few years back.

He may try'n salvage the party though, and it's not bad odds that he could do it I guess!

Roll on the Socialist Republic of Scotland! :p

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

[Frank]

I get the sneaking feeling that it wasn't so much Sheridan that destroyed the SSP as much as those that were left behind. I mean: what were they playing at?

Sheridan'll just set himself up as an independent socialist MSP again at somepoint down the line, or become a bit of a political commentator for some reason or another. It's not over for him considering his career as SSP head honcho was done when he gave it up a few years back.

He may try'n salvage the party though, and it's not bad odds that he could do it I guess!

Roll on the Socialist Republic of Scotland! :p

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

[Frank]

I get the sneaking feeling that it wasn't so much Sheridan that destroyed the SSP as much as those that were left behind. I mean: what were they playing at?

Sheridan'll just set himself up as an independent socialist MSP again at somepoint down the line, or become a bit of a political commentator for some reason or another. It's not over for him considering his career as SSP head honcho was done when he gave it up a few years back.

He may try'n salvage the party though, and it's not bad odds that he could do it I guess!

Roll on the Socialist Republic of Scotland! :p

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

[Gealle]

Is this one of those old socialist beliefs that if they repeat something often enough, it might just come true?

[hr]

Funky flunky munky...

[Malcolm]

I think the NOTW legal team were right - Tommy Sheridan does love himself and his ego a little too much in my opinion. And he was virtually bright-orange at one point, too much sunbed time methinks.

However, the allegations that came out in court just got so ridiculous, I never once thought Sheridan would lose - outlandish, over-the-top rumours with little hard evidence to back them up. I was just waiting for Reporting Glasgow to report that, according to witnesses called up in court, Sheridan once played Pool with Lord Lucan, received a blowjob from the Queen and had four-in-a-bed with a pornstar, his own wife and Jack McConnell.

It was all just getting so far-fetched that I thought the Jury would have a hard time proving it either way.

I seriously doubt him trying to salvage the SSP, though. I think he'll end up like Robert Kilroy-Silk, just using his original party to boost himself and his ego, and then split and go it alone. But, then again, we don't hear from Kilroy these days, was Veritas a bad idea?

[hr]

" ... No-one knows what it's like, to be the bad man, to be the sad man, Behind Blue Eyes ... "

[steerpike]

At last, something positive is reported on the news! ...but perhaps for all the wrong reasons.





[hr]

Nothing is easier than to condemn the evildoer, nothing is harder than to understand him.

F.Dostoevsky

[JonCore]

It's not up to the jury to prove anything in any case. It is to the jury that the prosecution or defence must prove something.

[Guest]

Quoting Frank from 20:43, 5th Aug 2006
I get the sneaking feeling that it wasn't so much Sheridan that destroyed the SSP as much as those that were left behind. I mean: what were they playing at?

Sheridan'll just set himself up as an independent socialist MSP again at somepoint down the line, or become a bit of a political commentator for some reason or another. It's not over for him considering his career as SSP head honcho was done when he gave it up a few years back.

He may try'n salvage the party though, and it's not bad odds that he could do it I guess!

Roll on the Socialist Republic of Scotland! :p

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."

The parties case is that he didn't give up being head of the party he was removed by unanimous vote over worries about this very scandal.
Whilst I have no love whatsoever for the NOTW I have to say that giving a verdict against 18 witnesses does make it seem as if the wrong verdict has been given.

[Malcolm]

Quoting from 17:32, 9th Aug 2006
Whilst I have no love whatsoever for the NOTW I have to say that giving a verdict against 18 witnesses does make it seem as if the wrong verdict has been given.

True, but they can't prove the 18 witnesses were telling the truth, can they? Like I said previously, it got so far-fetched that the Jury couldn't possibly rule in favour of the NOTW if there was any chance of witnesses perjuring.

[hr]

" ... No-one knows what it's like, to be the bad man, to be the sad man, Behind Blue Eyes ... "

[David Bean]

My view, as posted on my LiveJournal:

I'm glad to see that, even after winning his libel claim against what Private Eye magazine likes to call the 'News of the Screws', Tommy Sheridan MSP has kindly agreed to continue providing high-quality political entertainment to the masses. Today he announced that he has lost all confidence in the leadership of the Scottish Socialist Party, hinting at an intention to re-stand for the position of National Convenor against his former successor and now co-chair, Colin Fox. I found it hard to know who to believe in the libel case; witnesses on both sides last night stared into a camera and made directly contradictory claims, leaving us to conclude that someone must be lying.

Nevertheless, Sheridan now seems intent on cementing himself as the Robert Kilroy-Silk of the Scottish left, splitting his own party right down the middle in an attempt to become its leader. He seems to believe that he is bigger than the party, and whilst I hardly think that a very great boast to make, I can only shake my head in continued dismay at the inability of the left to put aside its internal differences and make a concerted attempt to advance its agenda.

Should he lose, he has, again following Mr Kilroy-Silk, expressed his intention to leave the party completely, doubtless to set up his own splinter party. Any suggestions for potential names? The best I can come up with so far is "Socialitas", but answers on a postcard to Tommy Sheridan, care of his new best friends at the Daily Record.

If, on the other hand, he wins, he'll have established a definite pattern of Scottish political parties returning to their former leaders, following the example of Alex Salmond for the SNP. Neither David McLetchie (for the Conservatives), nor Jim Wallace (for the Liberal Democrats) nor Henry McLeish (for Labour) can exactly be said to have distinguished themselves, but I think I've come up with the best solution of all: Labour bringing back Donald Dewar. Granted his biggest accomplishment (if you can call it that) was the creation of the Scottish Parliament, but he does offer one distinct advantage over just about every other major Scottish politician alive today: he's dead.

[hr]

Psalm 91:7

[flarewearer]

Anything less than the Telegraph is a comic

[hr]

[Lodestone]

The Orkney branch of the SSP, you might have spotted, has nominated Tommy for leadership again. Our man, John Aberdein (winner of the Saltire novel prize last year, incidentally) is pretty strong in the Party, as he gets one of the biggest proportions of the vote for SSP candidates. There was a bit of muttering by the local branch about being railroaded by him, but I think it happened pretty smoothly in the end.

David: your analysis of what's going on in the SSP is a bit off, but it's all rather messy even for those of us who're a bit in the know. Tommy's following in the SSP, with people like John Aberdein, is very much of the broad united front school of left thinking. Under Tommy, the SSP brought together the left in Scotland, making it far more united than it is down in England. Also, much of his following, including people like John Aberdein, are for uniting with the Greens.

As I see it, it's the other cliques in the party who're causing the ructions that might split it. It was very much the feminist wing, for example, who went up against Tommy (hardly surprising, as he's clearly a misogynist, like so many radicals).

Tommy is certainly arrogant and self-aggrandising, but he has far more political nous than the Galloways and Kilroys of this world. Whatever emerges from this mess, it'll be the bit that Tommy leads (and I suspect that'll be a slimmed-down SSP) that'll succeed the best.

And regarding Jim Wallace: he's definitely only an ordinary leader, but he's an absolutely stunning local MSP, I can tell you.

[Jono]

Quoting Malcolm from 23:12, 9th Aug 2006

Quoting from 17:32, 9th Aug 2006
Whilst I have no love whatsoever for the NOTW I have to say that giving a verdict against 18 witnesses does make it seem as if the wrong verdict has been given.

True, but they can't prove the 18 witnesses were telling the truth, can they? Like I said previously, it got so far-fetched that the Jury couldn't possibly rule in favour of the NOTW if there was any chance of witnesses perjuring.

[hr]

" ... No-one knows what it's like, to be the bad man, to be the sad man, Behind Blue Eyes ... "

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the News of the World had paid the eighteen people to commit perjury. To borrow somewhat from Ann Coulter's sentiments towards the New-York Times; My only regret is that the Screws didn't print the mohammed cartoons. To have their offices burned down by fanatics, once everyone appart from the Editors and "reporters" (if you can even call them that) had left of course, would be a completely justified end to such a travesty of a paper.

However, I'm a little sceptical about the outcome. From down here, it looked more like burlesque showboating in the courtroom from Sheridan, rather than any actual arguments in his defence. His wife turning up at the trial and declaring her resolve to murder him if he was unfaithful is hardly evidence that should be admissable in court. Furthermore, the court of session does not require a unanimous verdict from the jury. The end result was something like seven in favour of Sheridan, and five against. hardly the complete exhoneration Sheridan is making it out to be

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