Judge Constance Briscoe Pleads Not Guilty

A barrister and part-time judge has denied perverting the course of justice in relation to the Chris Huhne penalty points case.

Constance Briscoe, 56, pleaded not guilty to two counts of intending to pervert the course of public justice at the Old Bailey.

She is accused of providing police with inaccurate statements between May 16, 2011 and October 6, 2012.

The first charge alleges she gave officers two statements that were inaccurate.

The second alleges that on October 6 she produced a copy of her witness statement that had been altered and maintained it was the correct version.

A provisional trial date has been set for January 14 next year and Briscoe, from Clapham, southwest London, has been granted unconditional bail.

She was suspended as a judge by the Office for Judicial Complaints following her arrest last October.

When she was charged in June, the barrister said she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations and vowed to fight them in court.

Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce were given eight-month prison sentences earlier this 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.