Former Energy Secretary Chris Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were both jailed for eight months today almost exactly a decade after he asked her to take his speeding points on her licence.
The disgraced Lib Dem is likely to spend the night in Wandsworth Prison, south-west London, after he admitted perverting the course of justice following a last-minute plea change a month ago.
Huhne, 58, wearing a dark suit and tie, remained motionless as he became the first former Cabinet minister since Jonathan Aitken to be sent to prison.
Pryce, 60, who wore a black jacket over a silver-grey top, also showed no emotion as she was sent to prison in front of a packed courtroom, which included Huhne’s partner Carina Trimingham.
Sentencing them trial judge Mr Justice Sweeney said Huhne had lied ‘again and again’.
He told Pryce, who is expected to spend tonight in Holloway prison, she had a ‘controlling, manipulative and devious side’.
And he told the former couple: ‘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 had his sentence reduced by a month for his guilty plea, the judge said, and both will be released automatically after serving four months.
In an interview given hours before he was jailed, Huhne apologised for his actions, admitting that he had ‘lied and lied’ and said he had hoped Pryce would be cleared by the jury for ‘the sake of the family’.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the jailing was ‘a personal tragedy’, for Huhne, Pryce and the rest of their families.
