LONDON: Vicky Pryce, former wife of disgraced British ex-minister Chris Huhne, was convicted yesterday of perverting the course of justice by taking penalty points on her driving licence in 2003 for a speeding offence he had committed.
Huhne, who resigned as energy secretary in February 2012 when he and Pryce were both charged over the 2003 points, had pleaded guilty to the charge on February 4.
Huhne, considered until his guilty plea a likely successor to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as Liberal Democrat leader, and Pryce, a former joint head of the government’s economic service, will be sentenced later. They both face jail terms.
The speeding points deception, which took place at a time when the couple were happily married, remained a family secret for eight years but came back to haunt Huhne after the acrimonious break-up of the 26-year marriage.
Huhne abruptly left Pryce in June 2010 when his long-term affair with bisexual former aide Carina Trimingham was about to be exposed in the press. Details of the trio’s private lives were splashed all over the newspapers for weeks.
Months later, Pryce told two newspapers about the 2003 points deception.
REUTERS
