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| Vicky Pryce claims coercion by 'abusive' Chris Huhne | Vicky Pryce claims coercion by 'abusive' Chris Huhne |
| (4 months later) | |
| The ex-wife of the former cabinet minister Chris Huhne wept in the witness box as she told a jury how he had pressured her into having an abortion because it was "bad timing". | The ex-wife of the former cabinet minister Chris Huhne wept in the witness box as she told a jury how he had pressured her into having an abortion because it was "bad timing". |
| Vicky Pryce, 60, a mother of five children, told Southwark crown court on Thursday she became pregnant accidentally in 1990 and "obviously wanted to keep the baby because it was healthy – in fact, I quite like babies, that's why I have so many". | Vicky Pryce, 60, a mother of five children, told Southwark crown court on Thursday she became pregnant accidentally in 1990 and "obviously wanted to keep the baby because it was healthy – in fact, I quite like babies, that's why I have so many". |
| But Huhne, then a journalist, "absolutely resisted it, saying it was bad timing, bad financially and bad for his career to be tied down again," she said. "Despite my protestations, he got me to have an abortion, which I have regretted ever since." | But Huhne, then a journalist, "absolutely resisted it, saying it was bad timing, bad financially and bad for his career to be tied down again," she said. "Despite my protestations, he got me to have an abortion, which I have regretted ever since." |
| Pryce has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice by taking Huhne's penalty points after a speeding offence 10 years ago. Her defence is one of marital coercion. The allegation only surfaced after the breakdown of the couples's marriage after he left her for PR adviser Carina Trimingham, 46. | Pryce has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice by taking Huhne's penalty points after a speeding offence 10 years ago. Her defence is one of marital coercion. The allegation only surfaced after the breakdown of the couples's marriage after he left her for PR adviser Carina Trimingham, 46. |
| From the witness box the economist and former senior civil servant described her former husband as "very driven, very ambitious" who at the time of the speeding offence was an MEP and hoping to get the Liberal Democrat nomination for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire. | From the witness box the economist and former senior civil servant described her former husband as "very driven, very ambitious" who at the time of the speeding offence was an MEP and hoping to get the Liberal Democrat nomination for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire. |
| Speaking calmly – and apologising to the jury for swearing in previous evidence – she recalled how Huhne had, in 2003, asked her to take his points for an offence on the M11. He argued that a driving ban had implications for his political career and possibly for the Eastleigh nomination. | Speaking calmly – and apologising to the jury for swearing in previous evidence – she recalled how Huhne had, in 2003, asked her to take his points for an offence on the M11. He argued that a driving ban had implications for his political career and possibly for the Eastleigh nomination. |
| Her reaction, she said, was "a resounding no", and the argument continued for a number of days. He became "increasingly abusive – but I still resisted," she said. She thought it "morally repugnant". | Her reaction, she said, was "a resounding no", and the argument continued for a number of days. He became "increasingly abusive – but I still resisted," she said. She thought it "morally repugnant". |
| She told the court she had exploded with rage when official forms arrived naming her as the nominated driver. "I said, I'm not doing this, I'm not signing anything, these are not my points," she told the court. She said Huhne called her down to the hallway, where the form was on a table, and where he was standing "with a pen in his hand". | She told the court she had exploded with rage when official forms arrived naming her as the nominated driver. "I said, I'm not doing this, I'm not signing anything, these are not my points," she told the court. She said Huhne called her down to the hallway, where the form was on a table, and where he was standing "with a pen in his hand". |
| She said: "He was saying 'You've absolutely got to sign that. I've got to send this off now. If you do not the implications will be considerable.' | She said: "He was saying 'You've absolutely got to sign that. I've got to send this off now. If you do not the implications will be considerable.' |
| "I saw that on the form my name was already filled in, I just had to put my signature on there." She added: "I looked at this and realised I had absolutely no choice. I was already nominated." It looked, she said "like a fait accompli". | "I saw that on the form my name was already filled in, I just had to put my signature on there." She added: "I looked at this and realised I had absolutely no choice. I was already nominated." It looked, she said "like a fait accompli". |
| She had not rung the police, because it seemed like a step too far, that would have "quite serious consequences for him and for us all as a result". | She had not rung the police, because it seemed like a step too far, that would have "quite serious consequences for him and for us all as a result". |
| Asked by her barrister, "why not divorce him?" she said that "anyone who has a family knows that you do not do that because the children suffer as a consequence and I cared for my husband". But she was "furious, speechless for a while". | Asked by her barrister, "why not divorce him?" she said that "anyone who has a family knows that you do not do that because the children suffer as a consequence and I cared for my husband". But she was "furious, speechless for a while". |
| Laying bare the details of the marriage breakup, Pryce said Huhne told her he was having an affair during half-time of a World Cup match – she thought Japan v the Netherlands – that she was watching at home on 19 June 2010. He had rung her at home saying he needed to talk and it was serious. "I started wondering what was going on. Expenses possibly?" | Laying bare the details of the marriage breakup, Pryce said Huhne told her he was having an affair during half-time of a World Cup match – she thought Japan v the Netherlands – that she was watching at home on 19 June 2010. He had rung her at home saying he needed to talk and it was serious. "I started wondering what was going on. Expenses possibly?" |
| Huhne arrived at half-time. "He said, 'I have something to tell you. A newspaper has caught me with a mistress and I have to write a note to say that we are separating', or words to that effect," she said. | Huhne arrived at half-time. "He said, 'I have something to tell you. A newspaper has caught me with a mistress and I have to write a note to say that we are separating', or words to that effect," she said. |
| "I was really shocked. I said to him how long has it being going on. He said 'a year-and-a-half'". She later said she suspected it was longer. | "I was really shocked. I said to him how long has it being going on. He said 'a year-and-a-half'". She later said she suspected it was longer. |
| She said Huhne said he had planned to tell her "a year-and-a-half later" after their youngest son had gone to university. She asked if Huhne would step down, and he said "No, Robin Cook didn't have to." "I asked who it was. He said Carina." | She said Huhne said he had planned to tell her "a year-and-a-half later" after their youngest son had gone to university. She asked if Huhne would step down, and he said "No, Robin Cook didn't have to." "I asked who it was. He said Carina." |
| "You have to forgive me, I have absolutely nothing against gay people but I knew Carina as a lesbian. She had come to the house, she was introduced to me as a lesbian always and had a civil partner, a lady." | "You have to forgive me, I have absolutely nothing against gay people but I knew Carina as a lesbian. She had come to the house, she was introduced to me as a lesbian always and had a civil partner, a lady." |
| "I just couldn't take it seriously. In fact I laughed because it seemed so preposterous." | "I just couldn't take it seriously. In fact I laughed because it seemed so preposterous." |
| He told her he had 20 minutes to write a statement, then left to go the gym, she said. "There was no apology." | He told her he had 20 minutes to write a statement, then left to go the gym, she said. "There was no apology." |
| After the breakup, she said: "I was in serious shock and I was grieving as I'd lost my husband." She was "very, very, very, depressed" and the children were too. | After the breakup, she said: "I was in serious shock and I was grieving as I'd lost my husband." She was "very, very, very, depressed" and the children were too. |
| Pryce, who has two children from a first marriage, and three with Huhne, said "one son decided to change his name". | Pryce, who has two children from a first marriage, and three with Huhne, said "one son decided to change his name". |
| She attended the 2010 Lib Dem conference but newspaper articles, she believed "instigated" by Huhne's new partner Carina Trimingham, referred to her as "a scorned woman", who was there to "ruin her husband's conference and career". | She attended the 2010 Lib Dem conference but newspaper articles, she believed "instigated" by Huhne's new partner Carina Trimingham, referred to her as "a scorned woman", who was there to "ruin her husband's conference and career". |
| That made her really angry "because all I had done was be married to the man … I didn't feel scorned. I was abandoned, badly treated, that's different." | That made her really angry "because all I had done was be married to the man … I didn't feel scorned. I was abandoned, badly treated, that's different." |
| She was also angry that people seemed to be "rewriting history" about the marriage "saying it was all my fault". Pryce said she met with Huhne early in 2011, but it was "very, very unpleasant". "I had expected there might be some remorse, and some attempt to explain what happened. Instead I found myself being blamed for it all. | She was also angry that people seemed to be "rewriting history" about the marriage "saying it was all my fault". Pryce said she met with Huhne early in 2011, but it was "very, very unpleasant". "I had expected there might be some remorse, and some attempt to explain what happened. Instead I found myself being blamed for it all. |
| "And it was done in a pretty aggressive and bullying way. There was no apology for the affair," she said. But, she "still cared for him a lot and I was still hoping he would come back". | "And it was done in a pretty aggressive and bullying way. There was no apology for the affair," she said. But, she "still cared for him a lot and I was still hoping he would come back". |
| Pryce had met Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott at the Liberal democrat conference. She said she felt she was a "soulmate". | Pryce had met Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott at the Liberal democrat conference. She said she felt she was a "soulmate". |
| She felt Huhne was "trying from afar to bully me again in just the way he had done when I took those points". | She felt Huhne was "trying from afar to bully me again in just the way he had done when I took those points". |
| Pryce said she never thought her husband would resign over the points, as "he's very very strong-minded. Very little really affects him if he's determined to survive it". | Pryce said she never thought her husband would resign over the points, as "he's very very strong-minded. Very little really affects him if he's determined to survive it". |
| She had told Oakeshott about the points "because the world needed to know what he was like," she said. | She had told Oakeshott about the points "because the world needed to know what he was like," she said. |
| "I had no desire to see him lose his job or be prosecuted. I just wanted that out because it was something he had done that was wrong." | "I had no desire to see him lose his job or be prosecuted. I just wanted that out because it was something he had done that was wrong." |
| Pryce told the jury that when Huhne asked her to take his points, he told her that one of his constituency aides had taken them in the past for him. | Pryce told the jury that when Huhne asked her to take his points, he told her that one of his constituency aides had taken them in the past for him. |
| She said she was "not proud" of some of the emails she had sent to Oakeshott, including one in which she says she wanted to "nail" Huhne, but she had got "carried away". | She said she was "not proud" of some of the emails she had sent to Oakeshott, including one in which she says she wanted to "nail" Huhne, but she had got "carried away". |
| Pryce said she had confided about the points in 2003 in friend Constance Briscoe, a lawyer and part-time judge. The original story was published in the Sunday Times on May 8 2011, but was also printed in the Mail on Sunday because, Oakeshott said in evidence, she was asked to alert them by Pryce. Pryce had a "professional" relationship with one journalist on the Mail on Sunday and was anxious not to upset them. Later, Oakeshott said, Pryce ceased contact with her, and she found out she was dealing with the Mail on Sunday. | Pryce said she had confided about the points in 2003 in friend Constance Briscoe, a lawyer and part-time judge. The original story was published in the Sunday Times on May 8 2011, but was also printed in the Mail on Sunday because, Oakeshott said in evidence, she was asked to alert them by Pryce. Pryce had a "professional" relationship with one journalist on the Mail on Sunday and was anxious not to upset them. Later, Oakeshott said, Pryce ceased contact with her, and she found out she was dealing with the Mail on Sunday. |
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