Constance Briscoe Trial Fails To Reach Verdict

The trial of part-time judge Constance Briscoe, charged following Chris Huhne's speeding points case, has failed to reach a verdict.

The jury hearing charges at Southwark Crown Court that she lied to police investigating the case has been discharged.

Briscoe, who was given unconditional bail, will now face a retrial, although a date has not yet been fixed.

During the trial, which started earlier in the month, the jury heard that Briscoe helped economist Pryce, who was a friend and also her neighbour, to reveal information about the points-swapping scandal to newspapers after she and Huhne separated in 2010.

The 56-year-old barrister, from southwest London, denies three counts of intending to pervert the course of justice.

The jury of six women and five men had been deliberating since Wednesday but could not reach verdicts on any counts.

Briscoe is accused of providing police with two inaccurate statements about her role as an intermediary between then Energy Secretary Chris Huhne's estranged wife Vicky Pryce and reporters in revealing details of the speeding points saga.

She is also accused of producing an altered copy of a statement and then deliberately getting a document expert to view the wrong version of the statement.

She has been suspended since her arrest in October 2012.

Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were given eight-month prison sentences last year after it emerged Pryce had taken his speeding points a decade ago.

The former energy secretary pleaded guilty on the first day of a planned joint trial in February.

Economist Pryce was later convicted by a jury.

Huhne had already resigned from the Cabinet but also stood down as Lib Dem MP for Eastleigh after admitting the points swap.

Both he and Pryce were released from jail in May.

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