Shamed Huhne 'pressed wife into having abortion'

Friday 8 February 2013

Disgraced ex-cabinet minister Chris Huhne pressurised his then wife Vicky Pryce into having an abortion, as she described him bullying her into taking his speeding points, a court has heard.

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Miss Pryce claimed the former Energy Secretary, who stepped down as an MP this week after he admitted perverting the course of justice after he pretended he had not been at the wheel of a speeding car, made her take the points, presenting her with a "fait accompli".

The mother-of-five, who denies perverting the course of justice by taking Huhne's speeding points in 2003, told Southwark Crown Court she accidentally fell pregnant in 1990.She said: "He absolutely resisted it, saying it was bad timing, bad financially, bad for his career to be tied down again. And despite my protestations, he got me to have an abortion, which I have regretted ever since."Athens-born Pryce, who married Huhne in 1983, said he was often "absent" due to his pursuit of a political career and she was forced to compromise her own career to look after their children.The speeding offence linked to the points-swapping scandal in 2003 came at a time when he was working to be nominated as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, prompting him to pressure her to take the points.Pryce alleges she originally resisted his demands then discovered he had nominated her as the driver when a letter arrived. She told the court: "I exploded ... I said 'I am not doing this, I am not signing anything, these are not my points'."A few days later she said she was called downstairs where Huhne waited with a pen, telling her she must sign."It looked like a complete fait accompli for me and for him. It didn't look to me like I had any choice at all in the matter so I took this pen and signed, protesting all the time, but I did it."Pryce, 60, told how Huhne announced he had been having an affair during half-time of a World Cup football match in June 2010. He had been caught by a newspaper so confessed, drafted a press statement, then left for the gym without any apology, she said. A "shocked" Pryce said at first she thought it was "preposterous" his mistress was PR adviser Carina Trimingham as she was a lesbian in a civil partnership.Pryce was introduced to Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott at the LibDem conference by Lord Oakeshott and the pair met for lunch on March 1, 2011, where Pryce revealed she had been pressured into taking Huhne's points.The case continues.

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Shamed Huhne 'pressed wife into having abortion'

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