Friends of Vicky Pryce fear for her health: 'She's not a hard-bitten monster, prison could break her'

As Pryce faces her third night in Holloway, close family and friends tell Rosamund Urwin of their anger at her treatment and their fears about what an eight-month sentence will do to her
13 March 2013

Just five-and-a-half-weeks ago, Vicky Pryce threw a party at her Clapham townhouse. The economist and ex-wife of the former minister Chris Huhne — who is currently contemplating her third night in a cell in Holloway prison — looked gaunt but the wine still flowed, and she still smiled.

In that tastefully decorated home with high ceilings and photos of Pryce's five children scattered around, the rooms groaned with guests. So much so that someone joked the floor would collapse under the weight. There were bigwigs from the world of business, the civil service and politics, including her new partner, former Labour MP Denis MacShane.

And though there were inevitable whispers about the impending court case, those I spoke to weren't there out of curiosity, nor for the canapés: they were mostly rallying around "poor Vicky". There was almost unanimous support for the loyal wife who had been dumped after 26 years of marriage for her husband's PR adviser, Carina Trimingham.

Two days later, the man who dreamed of leading the Liberal Democrats resigned as an MP and said he was pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice over claims Pryce had taken speeding points for him a decade ago.

His ex-wife went on trial for the same offence the next day, claiming marital coercion as a defence. After the tragedy of the couple's collapsed marriage was pored over in court, came the farce of the first jury failing to reach a verdict. A second jury found Pryce guilty and she was this week sent down for eight months. Huhne received the same sentence.

Even Evan Davis, the necessarily impartial presenter of Radio 4's Today programme, seemed to show where his sympathies lay yesterday while interviewing another of Pryce's friends, the Independent columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. But no one is defending her more forcefully than her close-knit family.

Speaking for the first time about the sentence from his home in Greece, Pryce's brother George Courmouzis, who gave evidence at her second trial, says she sensed she would be sent to prison.

"She was too broken by [the second trial] to put up a good fight and [she] prepared herself for the worst case scenario." He calls her sentence "cruel and unusual" and is irked by the parity with Huhne's.

"I think that Chris's and Vicky's downfall from grace was enough punishment. But in comparative terms, I see an inconsistency that surprises me. Chris lied twice: once about the speeding violation in 2003 and then between 2011 and 2013 by claiming that Vicky was the driver, while he was trying to get the case thrown out of court."

Courmouzis adds that Huhne's admission of guilt was a means to "avoid its embarrassing, predicated conclusion" that gave him a 10 per cent discount on his sentence, whereas Pryce "stuck to her truth: that she was pushed to take his points. It was corroborated by me and her daughter on the witness stand. The court decreed us all liars! And, I suppose, the judge figured the two of them are even and passed similar sentences."

Some of Pryce's circle claim sexism in the way the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, handled the case. They point to his sentencing remarks, in which he claimed Pryce had "a controlling, manipulative and devious side" to her, while Huhne was described by his actions, not alleged character.

"Vicky was cast as the main villain of the piece, which strikes me as grossly unfair," says Kate Palmer, a friend and former neighbour of Pryce. "She was seen as an uppity woman who wasn't prepared to go quietly. She was making a spectacle of herself, and should be punished for it."

A close friend, who asked not to be named, said he felt the judge was single-minded towards Vicky: "Look at his irritation when the first jury didn't return a verdict. And there was no need for them to be sentenced together — it seemed to me that the judge was revelling in the showbiz element of it."

He also believes that Pryce's legal team were mistaken for sticking to a marital coercion defence to which the judge was unsympathetic.

But their complaints stretch beyond the law to the media too, Courmouzis accusing British journalists of behaving "aggressively, looking for blood, no matter where it came from" or how it hurt a family.

Palmer is upset too about the portrayal of Pryce in the press: "She's not a hard-bitten woman, those who know her know she's not this monster."

Alibhai-Brown believes Pryce was badly treated because she didn't behave as the abandoned wife is expected to: "The rules of the game are: your husband leaves you, you become dignified, you smile even when you want to die and tell the children how great he is. When you break those rules, everybody from female journalists to judges comes down on you. It's time women fought back."

At the party last month, those who had been mentored by Pryce at the start of their careers sang her praises as a boss. They also imparted how distraught Pryce was when Huhne left her in 2010, and quite how devoted she is to her children — two daughters from a first marriage, and a daughter and two sons from her marriage to Huhne, the youngest of whom — Peter, whose expletive-heavy text messages to his father were read out in court — is 20.

On her final day of freedom — Mothering Sunday — Pryce enjoyed a lunch with her children. Meanwhile, Huhne took Trimingham to the wedding reception of his lawyer and friend, Charlotte Harris, a partner with Mishcon de Reya. Other guests at the Inner Temple included Hugh Grant and PR guru Max Clifford.

Courmouzis says their mother's imprisonment will "take a while to settle in" for her offspring. "They are a team and supportive of each other," he adds. "There exist friends and family to reach out to. Godparents will rush to help."

There are those even in the Pryce circle who blame the children's suffering in part on their mother's thirst for revenge, however. A long-term friend of the family said she feels "both terribly sympathetic and appalled" towards Pryce: "She has sunk her children's father, and now both parents will forever be defined by this act."

Huhne already seems to be seeking the path to redemption, aided by his remaining friends. In an interview in yesterday's Guardian with Patrick Wintour, who was best man at Huhne's wedding to Pryce, Huhne apologised unreservedly for lying and putting the people he loved through "a gruelling experience". And Huhne is already planning life beyond his cell, with reports this morning suggesting he could devote himself to championing the environment.

But what of Pryce? Her lawyers say they are "actively" considering an appeal against her sentence. Conditions in Holloway are notoriously tough, with bullying and violence common. Even her brother admits he doesn't yet know how she will cope inside: "Will it make her stronger or break her further?"

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