Former MP and ex-wife face jail for perverting justice

The former couple are both facing jail terms at the hearing at Southwark Crown Court at 2pm.

Pryce was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of perverting the course of justice by taking speeding points for Huhne in 2003. The former Energy Secretary had already pleaded guilty to the charge.

Perverting the course of justice carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, although the average sentence is around 10 months.

Both 58-year-old Huhne and economist Pryce, 60, have been warned to be under no illusion about what punishment they face.

The fallout from the high-profile case continued yesterday as Nick Clegg denied that any senior Lib Dem figures knew about the points-swapping story before it appeared in the press in May 2011.

Emails between Pryce and Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott, revealed to the jury during the high-profile trial, suggested that figures including Business Secretary Vince Cable and Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg knew about the scandal before it became public.

Mr Clegg’s office said yesterday that it had checked with all party figures named in the Pryce emails and established that none of them was told about the speeding points before the story appeared in the press. The party was not aware of any Lib Dem peers who knew about the points, a spokesman added.

The spokesman said: “Vicky Pryce did not talk to anyone in Nick Clegg’s office about the speeding points. The first Nick knew of the Vicky Pryce speeding points allegations was from the media.”

Mr Clegg’s wife Miriam and Vince Cable also denied knowledge of the story before it was published.