“This is yet another amazing chapter in the real-life political novel that Jeffrey Archer’s life has been,” said political commentator Matthew Parris today. The chapter he was referring to was this afternoon’s news that the millionaire novelist and former Chairman of the Conservative Party had been found guilty of four charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Before sentencing him to four years in prison, judge Mr Justice Potts described the case as “extremely distasteful”, and told Lord Archer: “These charges represent as serious an offence of perjury as I have had experience of and have been able to find in the books.”
As Lord Archer’s first guilty verdict was read out, there was a shout of “Yes!” from the public gallery. The novelist, whose mother Lola died last week during the judge’s summing up, showed no reaction as he stood in the dock. His wife Mary, seated nearby, also stared straight ahead but, by the time the judge had finished, her eyes were gazing at the floor.
As well as being told that he would have to serve at least half of his sentence, Lord Archer was also informed to pay £175,000 costs within 12 months. His solicitor, Tony Morton-Hooper, said outside the court that there would be no further comment from the Archer family today. His client was, however, he added, planning to appeal.
The case arose after Lord Archer’s former friend Ted Francis went to the News Of The World Sunday paper in 1999, after the novelist had been selected by the Tories to run as their candidate for Mayor of London – Jeffrey’s dream job. Francis told the newspaper how his then friend had asked him for a false alibi on a particular night in September 1986.
Francis thought that the former politician was trying to save his marriage by covering up an affair. In reality, the alibi was used as potential evidence in Lord Archer’s libel battle with a tabloid newspaper, which had accused him of sleeping with and paying off prostitute Monica Coghlan, who was killed in a car crash earlier this year. Lord Archer successfully sued the newspaper, winning back his reputation and £500,000 in damages.
Although Lord Archer’s biographer, journalist Michael Crick, said that he felt that journalists had been guilty of giving the disgraced peer too easy a ride at times, it is the fourth estate that will have the last laugh. The News Of The World is already planning a huge exposé of the novelist’s life for this weekend, and Stuart Kuttner, its Managing Editor did not mince his words. “We want back everything that we were swindled of by Lord Archer,” he said.
Lord Archer, a former sprinter in the British Olympic team, will not, however, be stripped of his peerage, awarded in 1992 by John Major. A spokesperson for the House of Lords told the BBC: “There is no precedent for a life peerage being removed. I think treason would be the only exception.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
