Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce – Why Does Their Crime Matter?

Chris Huhne was, as I am sure readers know, an MP for the Liberal Democrats, who reached the heights of a Cabinet post (an achievement seen as unattainable for the Lib Dems till we ended up with a hung Parliament after the last election).

He now awaits sentencing  on Monday following his plea of guilty to perverting the course of justice by having his now ex-wife Ms Pryce accept a fixed penalty for speeding in 2003 when in fact it was Mr Huhne who was driving.

The “logic” behind the offence was that he was sitting on 9 penalty points at the time and a further 3 for speeding would have led to a “totting-up” disqualification. Whilst a driving ban, especially for collecting penalty points, would not be helpful to a politician’s reputation, I suspect it was the practical effects of a ban which might have concerned him most.

Ironically he was later in 2003 banned anyway, having been caught using his mobile when driving, and the penalty points for that led to a disqualification.

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Bob Bird Detained for Alleged Attempt to Pervert the Course of Justice re Sheridan v NOTW

The BBC has reported this morning that the former editor of the News of the World’s Scottish edition has been detained in connection with the perjury trial of former MSP Tommy Sheridan. The report states that Bob Bird is being held on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice over Mr Sheridan’s defamation action against the newspaper in 2006.

Strathclyde Police said a 56-year-old man had been detained in Glasgow.

Officers are investigating allegations of perjury and phone hacking as part of the Operation Rubicon probe.

Of course, Mr Bird has not yet been charged with any offence and, until a court declares otherwise, he is an innocent man.