Archer arrives home

Monday, 21 July 2003 12:00 AM

Disgraced Tory peer Lord Jeffrey Archer has returned home from prison, having served two years and two days of his four-year sentence.

He walked out of the gates of Hollesley Bay open prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk, early this morning, two years after being sentenced to four years imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

His son William drove the former Tory party chairman away from Hollesley Bay Prison in Suffolk at around 0815 BST this morning. He arrived at his family home in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, about and hour and a half later.

The Tory peer was welcomed home by his wife Mary. He made no comment to the crowd of press gathered at his gate.

He is expected to travel to his penthouse in London later, which has been registered as his home address with the Probation Service.

Lord Archer last night thanked his family and sections of the public for their unwavering support during his incarceration.

In a statement he said: "I want to thank my wife Mary and my sons, William and James, for their unwavering and unstinting support during this unhappy period in my life.

"I should also like to thank friends who took the trouble to visit me in prison, as well as countless members of the public who sent letters, cards and gifts.

"I shall not be giving any interviews for the foreseeable future. However, I have accepted an invitation to address the Howard League for Penal Reform's conference at New College Oxford in September, and several requests to do charity auctions in the run-up to Christmas."

Archer was jailed after a jury found him guilty of faking an alibi in a libel case involving the Daily Star newspaper, which was ordered to pay him £500,000 in damages in a previous case.

Whether Lord Archer will retain the right to sit in the House of Lords, following vociferous calls for the law to be changed on convicted criminals serving in the Upper Chamber is still to be decided. Constitutional Affairs Minister Lord Falconer is to assess whether it is right to allow convicts who have been imprisoned for more than a year to resume their seats.

The 63-year-old multimillionaire will be under probation supervision for one year and on licence for a further 12 months until the end of his four-year term.

There is speculation in the Guardian today that Lord Archer may accompany Lady Archer to Buckingham Palace later in the day.

The Duke of Edinburgh has invited Lady Archer, as a trustee of the Cambridge Foundation, and there are rumours that her husband could arrive as her escort.

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