Scottish Review editor wants Tommy Sheridan released in wake of NoW phone-hacking scandal
The editor of influential current affairs website Scottish Review, Kenneth Roy, is spearheading a move to have former MSP Tommy Sheridan released from jail.
Sheridan is currently serving a three-year jail sentence for committing perjury during his libel action against the now defunct News of the World.
Declares Roy, who has had a prominent career as a print and broadcasting journalist, in an article on his own website: "Unease about this case has not diminished with the passage of Mr Sheridan's time in prison.
“It was being felt, and strongly expressed, by fair-minded people across the political spectrum long before the events of the summer gave some credence to his claim that he had been stitched up."
Roy claims that the revelations about phone hacking and the closure of the News of the World might have saved Sheridan from prison.
He poses a number of questions:
"Would the same Glasgow jury – or indeed any jury – have convicted him if it had been given the power of foresight?
“Would it have convicted him if it had known that, within half a year, witnesses in the trial would themselves be the subject of a perjury investigation?
“Would it have convicted him if it had known that the News of the World was a deeply criminal organisation, hacking into the phones of the victims of terrorism and murder?
“Would it have convicted him if it had known of the extent of the collusion between the police and the media in London and elsewhere?"
Pointing out that Sheridan began his sentence on January 26, Roy explains: “Next week therefore marks the completion of nine months in jail and, theoretically, having served a quarter of his sentence, he is eligible to be released on an electronic tag.
He concludes: "We suggest that, in all the circumstances, he should be freed from prison a week tomorrow. Every day he serves beyond then is a day too long."