Disgraced former British Cabinet minister Chris Huhne, jailed here in March for perverting the course of justice, was today freed from prison with an electronic tag to track his whereabouts.
The former energy secretary and Liberal Democrat MP had been found guilty of an offence dating back a decade when his then wife, Vicky Pryce, took speeding points for him.
The 58-year-old was released from Leyhill Prison in Gloucestershire, having served eight weeks of his eight-month sentence.
He is due to return to the home he shares with PR adviser Carina Trimingham in London.
Ex-wife Pryce was also serving a similar sentence at East Sutton Park prison, near Maidstone, Kent.
Both are category D open jails which allow relative freedom of movement to the prisoners.
The 60-year-old said she was "very pleased to be home" after returning to her Clapham, south-west London, residence and said she was looking forward to returning to work as an economist.
"She is grateful for all the support she has received from everyone whilst in prison, including her fellow residents and prison staff. She now intends to spend time with her family and looks forward to returning to her career as an economist," her lawyer Robert Brown told reporters here today.
The pair will now have to wear electronic tags to monitor their movements, under the terms of the Home Detention Curfew scheme.
Earlier this year, the courts were told that Pryce had revealed the speeding points scandal to newspapers in 2011 to seek revenge.
The incident took place in March 2003 when Huhne's BMW car was caught by a speed camera on the motorway between Stansted Airport, in Essex, and London.
He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) at the time and in danger of losing his licence having already accrued nine penalty points.
After vehement denials, Huhne finally changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial in February after failing to have the case dismissed and resigned as MP of Eastleigh on the same day.
Huhne and Pryce are yet to hear how much they will have to pay for the cost of their prosecution.
The senior Lib Dem figure had left Pryce in 2010 as his relationship with Trimingham was about to be exposed, ending his 26-year marriage.
