Archer jailed for libel case lies

Archer had denied the charges

LONDON, England -- Best-selling novelist and former Conservative politician Jeffrey Archer has been sentenced to four years in jail for lying during a high-profile libel case.

Archer, who served as party chairman during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, was found guilty by the jury at the Old Bailey on Thursday on two counts of perverting the course of justice and two of perjury.

He must pay £175,000 costs within 12 months and was told by the judge he would have to serve at least half of his sentence.

Archer was cleared of one count of perverting the course of justice. Two other charges of perjury had been dropped earlier in the six-week trial at the Old Bailey in London.

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Archer, 61, who denied all the charges, had refused to give evidence during the trial that centred on his 1987 libel case against the British tabloid newspaper the Daily Star.

The libel suit was brought against the Daily Star after it alleged he had had sex with a prostitute, Monica Coghlan, who died in April from her injuries in a car accident. He won £500,000 (more than $700,000) in damages after denying any encounter.

Before sentencing him the judge Mr Justice Potts told 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."

The prosecution in the latest trial had argued that Archer, who is famous for his airport blockbusters, including "Kane and Abel," "A Matter of Honour" and "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" had lied during the Daily Star trial.

Unanimous verdicts

It said the novelist had hatched a false alibi with former friend Ted Francis to counter the newspaper's allegations.

Retired television producer Francis, 67, was found not guilty of perverting the course of justice by providing Archer a false alibi. He had denied the charge.

The second case against Archer, who was made a Tory peer in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of parliament, in 1992, had focused on whether he had used a forged or false diary during the Daily Star case.

The jury took 23 hours and 39 minutes to reach its unanimous verdicts on each count, PA reported.

There was a shout of "yes" from the public gallery as Archer's first guilty verdict was delivered by the jury foreman. The novelist showed no reaction as he stood in the dock.

His wife Mary, who was sat at the back of the court inches away from the packed press area, remained composed. She stared slightly downwards, sitting with her hands clasped on her knees and her legs crossed.

She was accompanied by their 29-year-old son William, who was perched on the edge of his chair as he listened to the verdict. He also showed no reaction.

Archer was awarded his peerage in 1992 by then-Prime Minister John Major.

Although he can be stripped of it, that is unlikely to happen as it would take an Act of Parliament to revoke the honour.

Given the pressure on the legislative timetable, a Bill to remove his peerage would be unlikely, Press Association reported.