Tommy Sheridan's SSP colleagues accused of jealousy

Gail and Tommy Sheridan deny two charges of lying under oath during his defamation action in 2006

Scottish Socialist Party colleagues of Tommy Sheridan were jealous of the publicity he received and thought he was "well above his station", a court had heard.

Former SSP press officer Hugh Kerr, 66, said success in the 2003 Holyrood election was followed by hate-filled conflict within the group.

Mr Kerr was the first witness called by Mr Sheridan as he defends himself against perjury charges.

Both he and his wife Gail deny perjury.

The couple, both 46, face two charges of lying under oath during the former MSP's successful defamation action against the News of the World newspaper in 2006.

Mr Sheridan won £200,000 when he took the paper to court after it printed allegations that he had committed adultery and visited a swingers' club.

Mr Kerr, a former Labour MEP who later helped launch the SSP, said he left his party role in March 2004 after members became hostile towards him.

He told the High Court in Glasgow: "There were always people who were envious of the amount of publicity you [Mr Sheridan] got, and as your press officer they associated me with you."

Mr Kerr is now a press officer for Mr Sheridan's Solidarity Party

The witness added: "There were people who clearly thought that you were well above your station. They thought you were too big for your boots and ought to be taken down a peg or two."

Asked by Mr Sheridan about internal divisions in the party, the witness replied: "There was a lot of hate, visceral hate, generated in this conflict."

Mr Kerr, now press officer for Mr Sheridan's Solidarity Party, said he contacted police after a bug was allegedly found on the ex-MSP's car but was told there was not enough evidence on who had apparently hidden the device.

'Incredible waste'

Mr Kerr also put Freedom of Information requests in to Lothian and Borders Police about the cost of its perjury investigation.

An e-mail response from the Force Information Unit, shown to the court, estimated about 40,000 police hours were spent on the inquiry.

Mr Kerr said: "The full figure we got was around £1.5m that had been spent up to about a year ago.

"That excludes the cost of the Crown operation and the cost of the trial.

"I gather that is between £2m-£3m. That seems to me to be an incredible waste."

Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC asked Mr Kerr that if gathering information was "so dear to his heart" why he had not then given a statement to police last month.

The witness said he was "not obliged to" and added that he wanted to "give his evidence in court".

'Big Brother intrusion'

The court later heard from two sisters, Joyce Drummond and Irene Lang, former SSP members.

They told the jury about a meeting they had with the party's Colin Fox in May 2006, where Mr Fox is said to spoken of a plot to "get" Mr Sheridan within the party and asked for their help to "clear out" his opponents.

Both witnesses said Mr Fox told them that at an SSP meeting in 2004, Sheridan had denied allegations that he had attended the sex club Cupid's, admitting only to a relationship with the journalist Anvar Khan "years ago".

The Crown has alleged that Mr Sheridan confessed to visiting the Manchester swingers' club at an SSP meeting in November 2004 .

The court heard Mr Sheridan's local SSP branch in Cardonald had asked for the minutes of that meeting to be destroyed.

The 2006 document claimed people were "entitled to a private life" without "Big Brother-style" intrusion.

Prosecutor Mr Prentice challenged Ms Lang on the reference to "destroy" the minutes or any document regarding "Comrade Sheridan".

She said: "There was a reference to that, but it was not meant literally."

Not giving evidence

Alan Brown, another of Mr Sheridan's witnesses, told the court he met the ex-MSP in Glasgow at the time he is alleged to have visited Cupid's.

Mr Brown said he spoke to Mr Sheridan on a Friday evening in September 2002, at "some sort of socialist event".

Mr Sheridan showed the witness his diary which listed a "people's festival" taking place on 27 September, the date the prosecution allege he attended the club.

Mr Prentice later challenged Mr Brown about the time, but the witness said he was "sure it was that Friday".

The court also heard from Mr Sheridan that he will not be giving evidence during the trial.

The trial, before judge Lord Bracadale, continues.