12.03.13
Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce jailed for eight months
Former energy secretary Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were both jailed for eight months yesterday for perverting the course of justice.
Huhne has apologised for lying for two years about asking his then wife to take the speeding points to avoid a driving ban himself in 2003. Huhne pleaded guilty to the offence last month, while Pryce was found guilty last week after jurors rejected her defence, which was based on marital coercion.
At the sentencing yesterday, the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said: “To the extent that anything good has come out of this whole process, it is that now, finally, you have both been brought to justice for your joint offence. Any element of tragedy is entirely your own fault.”
Huhne, the former MP for Eastleigh who ran twice for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, said he accepted responsibility for what had happened, but said that at the beginning it was hard to believe such a “ridiculously small misjudgement” could ruin his career.
Both Huhne and his ex-wife, a noted economist, are likely to serve only eight to ten weeks of their sentences in prison, with the rest under home curfew and on parole.
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(Image: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire)