Britain’s most prominent black judge conspired with a Sunday newspaper to bring down the Cabinet minister Chris Huhne, a court was told yesterday.
Constance Briscoe was feeding information to The Mail on Sunday about an incident in 2003 when Huhne pressured his wife Vicky Pryce into taking his speeding penalty points, the jury was told.
Ms Briscoe also passed on to the newspaper details about text messages sent from Huhne’s teenage son, Peter, to his father. When this was reported, police raided the Pryce family home in South London and seized the phone. Shortly after the story broke that Huhne had persuaded “someone” to take his penalty points, Ms Briscoe was invited for a drink with MoS journalists. Andrew Alderson, a freelance for the paper, wrote to Dave Dillon, the news editor: “We can both take her out for a ‘farewell to Huhne drink’ when he bows to the inevitable in the next few days. As we know, Constance is quite partial to a glass or two.”
Southwark Crown Court also heard that in December 2010, Ms Briscoe wrote to Mr Alderson asking if the paper was ready to publish the story about Huhne’s penalty points. She wrote: “Are we set for blast-off this weekend?” During the police investigation into Huhne and Ms Pryce, which broke in The Sunday Times in May 2011, police recovered phone and e-mail data between Ms Briscoe and the Mail on Sunday. One e-mail from Mr Alderson to Mr Dillon said Ms Briscoe was “determined to go for the kill” against Huhne.
The revelations emerged during the third day of Ms Pryce’s trial for perverting the course of justice by accepting her husband’s penalty points in 2003. The court has heard that Ms Briscoe was told in 2003 about the incident.
Huhne, who resigned his Cabinet post in February 2012 after being charged with perverting the course of justice, finally pleaded guilty on Monday. Ms Pryce denies the charge, claiming marital coercion.
Ms Pryce, who has admitted telling The Sunday Times that Huhne had persuaded her to take the points, said that she “wished she could turn the clock back”. She added: “I was ashamed and upset about being involved.” Andrew Edis, QC, for the prosecution, said to Ms Pryce that “putting the story” in the public domain had had a catastrophic effect on her family.
Ms Pryce and Huhne, who separated in 2010 after he confessed to an affair with his aide Carina Trimingham, have three grown-up children.
The trial continues.