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Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013 3:00 PM UTC

Jury dismissed for wife of disgraced UK minister

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Topics: From the Wires,

Jury dismissed for wife of disgraced UK ministerFormer wife of disgraced Member of Parliament, Chris Huhne, Vicky Pryce, arriving at Southwark Crown Court, London, Monday Feb. 18, 2013 where she is accused of with perverting the course of justice relating to a speeding offence in 2003. (AP Photo/PA, Sean Dempsey) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE(Credit: AP)

LONDON (AP) — A British jury was dismissed Wednesday after failing to reach a verdict in the trial of Vicky Pryce, the ex-wife of a former U.K. cabinet minister who resigned after lying for years about a speeding ticket.

Pryce had pleaded not guilty to obstructing justice for taking the fall for a speeding penalty for her then-husband, Chris Huhne, in 2003. She claims she was coerced by her husband into taking the license penalty points for his speeding offense.

Huhne — who had repeatedly denied wrongdoing — entered a last-minute guilty plea to the same charge just before his trial was due to start earlier this month. The case shattered his political career: he resigned as a U.K. lawmaker the same day he pleaded guilty.

The judge in Pryce’s trial at London’s Southwark Crown Court discharged the jury Wednesday after jurors said it was “highly unlikely” they could reach even a majority verdict.

Pryce, an economist who has worked as a senior adviser in both the private sector and in government, will now face a retrial.

The details of her case riveted Britain, as deeply personal and embarrassing revelations about the powerful couple’s 25-year marriage emerged.

Pryce and Huhne split in 2010 after it was revealed that he was having an affair with his public relations adviser.

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