to feel sorry for Vengeful Vicky? The Price was too high...

[Corygal]

Honestly. Huhne actually did the crime. She was just trying to out the brute. Fine reward for being a grass, the police are always saying they protect you if you do - yep.

Deeply misogynist, to boot. A sharp slap to the uppity wife who had the cheek to ask to be treated like a human being - now she's called a harridan, a witch, and, of course, overemotional 'blinded by rage and grief' acc the judge.

Judges comments on Vicky were unfair and not necessary.

I wasn't aware of that HappyJoyful - sounds like she was badly advised.

Alternatively she might have been given sound advice and chosen to ignore it.

I highly doubt she was given bad advice as to the risks of running a trial vs the credit given at sentencing to those who plead guilty.
Barristers in their first year know that you tell a client if they plead Hillary they will get a lighter sentence but if they run a full case and are unsuccessful the court will not look kindly on them, but barristers ultimately act on instruction so it's the clients decision what to do

Good point, possibly she was advised correctly but choose to ignore it.
Either way, I personally can't get over why on earth she did plead NOT guilty. She'd admitted it all over the newspapers.

We do know that Isabel Oakeshott played down the risk of Pryce being prosecuted because she wanted to publish the story. This is what she said (8 March 2011):

In theory, it's likely there is a minor risk of you being prosecuted, but we think in practise (sic) it is highly unlikely, especially if we handle it right.

ElBurro, I think IO later did state (and kept reiterating) that she would need to (and did) run it past The Sunday Times legal advisors. I don't think she played it down - I would assume that's what she was advised.

IO never made any qualms about the fact that she wanted the story - that's what her job as as a journalist is. It was always Pryce's risk and decision to make.

HJ,
Just keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better - are you related to IO or something or do you have doubts about the morality of what you do?

All of her emails are online, and also an excrutiating ass covering interview with Andrew Neill - she really doesn't come out of this very well at all. In the emails IO talks about wanting to nail Huhne etc and clearly eggs Pryce on. She supplies Pryce with a tape recorder to record phone calls and shows her how to use it etc. There is a story in today's Independent examining IO's role which uses the term entrapment - which this could amount to.

IMO this is not how any decent person should behave towards someone who is clearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown.But hey, she got the story, so that makes it all OK.

"At the time, she probably thought that any punishment she received would be worth it, just to knock him off his pedestal."

Apparently not, since her first idea was to pin her crime on an innocent woman in order to keep out of trouble herself whilst still getting back at her husband. That is not the reaction of a distraught woman who is not counting the cost to herself. Small thanks to her that the other woman turned out not to have a driving licence.

Oh please, ElBurro. Pryce tried to save her miserable skin and didn't give a shit if an innocent person went to prison as long as she got her revenge on her ex. Yet you are defending her. I can't decide whether I find that pathetic or despicable.

Pryce was in the wrong, quite clearly and is now in prison and I have never defended her actions. If you can point out where I have done that please let me know as I am pretty certain that I have not.

What I dislike about this affair is the hypocritical reverse ferret enacted by IO which trys to make out that she was an innocent bystander in this - she certainly is not. IO encouraged Pryce to believe that she could nail Huhne and walk away herself. If you don't believe me, please read the email correspondence between them.

ElBurro, No I'm not related to IO and the morality of what I do for a living is irrelevant - though if it interests you it is far from journalism in the public sector.

Interesting that a few days prior to the article you refer to, on Sunday, The Independent's Julia Langdon actually writes and article and speaks out in support of IO.

You keep making reference to Pryce being weak and on the verge of a breakdown. I guess in her lies the difference's in our stance on it - I certainly do not see her as that. She and IO both knew exactly what they wanted from each other, I'm sorry to imply that IO somehow entrapped her into telling her story is utter bollocks. As cory and limitedperiod state, she tried hard to save herself by blaming someone else.

What is it you expect IO to do - apologise and state that she should never have published the story? Quite frankly if Pryce was dumb enough to believe a journalist then more fool her.