Judge Constance Briscoe Jailed for 16 Months for Lying to Police Over Chris Huhne Scandal

Judge and best-selling author Constance Briscoe has been sentenced to 16 months in jail after being found guilty of lying to police during Chris Huhne's speeding points scandal.

Briscoe, 56, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after twice giving inaccurate statements to police regarding her relationship with Huhne's ex-wife Vicky Pryce and then altering a third to try and cover her lies.

The court heard how Briscoe and Pryce conspired with each other to "bring down" the disgraced former Lib Dem MP over his speeding points debacle.

Huhne and Pryce were both sentenced to eight months in jail after Pryce agreed to take the speeding points for Huhne in 2003 to avoid him losing his licence.

Briscoe is believed to be the first judge in the UK in modern times to be convicted of lying to police. Det insp John McDermott, who investigated Briscoe with Kent Police, said the verdict showed no-one was "above the law".

Having become one of the first black women in the UK to become a recorder – or part time judge – in 1996, she also became a best-selling author following the release of her memoirs Ugly (2006) and Beyond Ugly (2008).

The books told of the mental and physical abuse she had suffered as a child at the hands of her mother, including regularly beating her and refusing to pay for her school photograph because she looked "ugly".

Her mother, Carmen Briscoe-Mitchell, unsuccessfully tried to sue Briscoe for libel, claiming the stories in her books were "nonsense" and her daughter a "liar and a fantasist".

The convicted judge is now facing a criminal investigation into allegations she fraudently obtained medical documents from Southwark Council in order to help her defence during the 2008 case.