Events leading to Tommy Sheridan's guilty verdict

After a 12-week trial, firebrand politician Tommy Sheridan was found guilty of lying during his defamation case against the News of the World.

Here are the key events leading up to the guilty verdict:

* 1998 - The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is created, formed from the then Scottish Socialist Alliance, set up in 1996. Tommy Sheridan heads the party.

* May 1999 - Sheridan elected as a list MSP for Glasgow for the SSP. At the time, Sheridan said Scotland's fifth political party had been born. But for four years he was the SSP's sole representative in the Scottish Parliament.

* 2000 - Tommy and Gail Sheridan marry in Glasgow.

* November 9 2004 - Meeting at the SSP headquarters in Stanley Street, Glasgow, where Sheridan allegedly told party colleagues he had visited a swingers' club twice.

* November 10 2004 - It emerges that Sheridan has stood down from the Scottish Socialist Party leadership.

* August 4 2006 - Sheridan wins his defamation action at the Court of Session in Edinburgh against the News of the World over allegations that he cheated on his wife and took part in orgies. He is awarded £200,000 in damages.

* December 16 2007 - Sheridan is charged by police with perjury.

* February 19 2008 - Gail Sheridan is charged by police with perjury.

* October 4 2010 - Tommy and Gail Sheridan go on trial for perjury at the High Court in Glasgow.

* December 17 2010 - Gail Sheridan is acquitted of the charge of perjury. Prosecutors tell her they are no longer pursuing the charge against her. Her solicitor, John-Paul Mowberry, reads a statement outside court.

* December 22 2010 - Tommy Sheridan is found guilty of perjury.