Huhne hires Redknapp’s lawyers to fight charges

Huhne, 57, who remains the MP for his home town of Eastleigh in Hampshire, stood down from Cabinet to fight claims that he wrongly told investigators that his wife was driving his car.

Ms Pryce, 59, faces the same charge, accused of telling police she was driving, and is yet to indicate a plea.

They were both granted unconditional bail as they sat in the dock at Southwark Crown Court.

Justice Saunders ordered them to appear again “at some time in the week beginning May 21” for a plea and case management hearing.

Their two-week trial has been scheduled for early October, but it could start early in the summer.

Huhne has hired John Kelsey Fry QC, the barrister who successfully defended Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp against tax evasion charges.

Mr Huhne’s car was allegedly caught by a speed camera on the motorway between Stansted Airport in Essex and London in March 2003.

But accusations of impropriety only emerged in 2010, after the father-of-five admitted an affair with PR adviser Carina Trimingham and ended his 26-year marriage.

He quit his job as a Cabinet minister last month after it was announced that he would face criminal charges, following an eight-month police investigation.

The leading Liberal Democrat had previously said the allegations were “simply incorrect”, adding that he welcomed the prospect of a police investigation as it would clear his name.

Perverting the course of justice carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.