Reuters.com By Gideon Long
Thu Aug 3, 2006. 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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