R v Huhne and Pryce
| Regina v Huhne and Pryce | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Court | Crown Court |
| Full case name | Regina v Christopher Huhne and Vasiliki Pryce |
| Case history | |
| Related action(s) | The Queen (on the application of Times Newspapers Limited) v the Crown Court at Chelmsford |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | The Honourable Mr Justice Sweeney |
Regina v Christopher Huhne and Vasiliki Pryce is the prosecution of the former British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne MP, and his former wife, Vicky Pryce, the former Head of the Government Economic Service, for perverting the course of justice, contrary to common law. Huhne became the first Cabinet minister in British history to resign as a consequence of criminal proceedings. On 4 February 2013, Huhne was convicted on the basis of his own plea after re-arraignment. The trial of Pryce began on the following day, lasting until 20 February 2013 when the jury were discharged by the judge. A re-trial began on 25 February 2013 and led to the conviction of Pryce on 7 March 2013.
Huhne had been the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh since 2005. On 12 May 2010 he was appointed to the cabinet office of Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition formed after the 2010 general election. In June 2010, Huhne announced that he was leaving his wife of 26 years after he confirmed that he had been having a long-term affair with a media adviser. The couple divorced in January 2011.
In May 2011, Pryce stated that she was aware that Huhne had "pressured people to take his driving licence penalty points". Huhne emphatically denied these allegations of perverting the course of justice, contrary to common law.Labour MP Simon Danczuk made a criminal complaint to Essex Police in respect of the allegations. The main question of fact, as alleged in the charge, was whether Huhne had caused Pryce to accept three penalty points which he had allegedly incurred while driving his BMW car through a speed camera between Stansted Airport and London on the evening of 12 March 2003. During interviews with Essex Police, Huhne exercised his right to remain silent. A decision on whether to institute proceedings for the alleged offences was delayed for eight months while the Sunday Times made an application for judicial review of an order of the Crown Court at Chelmsford that the Crown Prosecution Service had obtained, which obliged the newspaper to disclose e-mails between Pyrce and its political editor, Isabel Oakeshott, in which the case was discussed. The application was withdrawn on 20 January 2012. In December 2011, newspapers including The Daily Express reported that Essex Police had recommended to the CPS that both Huhne and Pryce ought to be prosecuted for the alleged offences.
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