Part-time judge Constance Briscoe denies perverting justice over Chris Huhne case

56-year-old faces trial next January over two charges

Constance Briscoe pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey to two counts of intending to pervert the course of public justice (Rex Features)

A barrister and part-time judge has denied perverting the course of justice in connection with the Chris Huhne case.

Constance Briscoe pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey to two counts of intending to pervert the course of public justice, relating to statements made to police.

The 56-year-old, who was suspended by the Office for Judicial Complaints after her arrest last October, will stand trial at Southwark Crown Court on 14 January.

The first charge alleges that between May 16 2011 and October 6 2012 Briscoe provided police with two statements that were inaccurate and the second alleges that on October 6 she produced a copy of her witness statement that had been altered and maintained it was the correct version.

After her charge in June the barrister, of Crescent Grove, Clapham, south-west London, said she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations and vowed to fight them in court.

Huhne and his ex-wife Vicky Pryce received eight-month prison sentences after it emerged that she had taken driving penalty points for him a decade ago.

The former energy secretary pleaded guilty on the first day of a planned joint trial in February, and economist Pryce was later convicted by a jury. Both have now been released from jail.

PA