Lawyer in Chris Huhne case set for retrial
A TOP lawyer is facing a retrial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on charges she lied to police about her role in the Chris Huhne speeding points scandal.
Constance Briscoe, 56, allegedly claimed she was an independent witness and was due to appear in court for the prosecution during the disgraced MP’s trial.
During her three-week trial, it was alleged she waged a poisonous vendetta against the former Energy Secretary and was helping his wife Vicky Pryce co-ordinate a media campaign.
The barrister and part-time judge claimed her relationship with the pair did not extend beyond “associates” and neighbours.
Yesterday the jury was discharged, having failed to reach verdicts after more than 13 hours.
Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema QC told Southwark Crown Court: “Plainly, there will have to be a retrial.”
Briscoe, of Clapham, south-west London, denies three counts of perverting the course of justice.
She is also accused of producing an altered copy of a statement and deliberately getting a document expert to view the wrong version. She has been suspended from the judiciary since her arrest in 2012.
Briscoe was bailed to appear in court on May 1 to set a retrial date. Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce have served jail terms.