Editing Jeffrey Archer (section)

===Trial===
On 26 September 2000, Archer was charged with perjury and [[perverting the course of justice]] during the 1987 libel trial.<ref name=Perjury>{{cite news|title=Archer charged with perjury|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/archer-charged-with-perjury-699019.html|access-date=22 December 2015|work=The Independent|date=25 September 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223090957/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/archer-charged-with-perjury-699019.html|archive-date=23 December 2015}}</ref> Ted Francis was charged with perverting the course of justice.<ref name="Timeline: Stranger than fiction"/> Simultaneously, Archer starred in a production of his own courtroom play ''The Accused'', staged at London's [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]]. The play concerned the court trial of an alleged murderer and assigned the role of jury to the audience, which would vote on the guilt of Archer's character at the end of each performance.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.curtainup.com/accused.html|title=Review&nbsp;— The Accused|date=8 October 2002|publisher=Curtain Up|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051203134041/http://www.curtainup.com/accused.html|archive-date=3 December 2005}}</ref>

The perjury trial began on 30 May 2001, a month after [[Monica Coghlan]]'s death in a road traffic collision.<ref name=Stokes>{{cite news|last1=Stokes|first1=Paul|title=Monica Coghlan killed by robbery car|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1317481/Monica-Coghlan-killed-by-robbery-car.html|access-date=22 December 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=28 April 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224135309/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1317481/Monica-Coghlan-killed-by-robbery-car.html|archive-date=24 December 2015}}</ref> Ted Francis claimed that Archer had asked him to provide a false alibi for the night Archer was alleged to have been with Monica Coghlan.<ref name=Perjury/> Angela Peppiatt, Archer's former personal assistant, also claimed Archer had fabricated an alibi in the 1987 trial. Peppiatt had kept a diary of Archer's movements, which contradicted evidence given during the 1987 trial.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1420933.stm|title=Ted Francis: Archer whistleblower|date=19 July 2001|publisher=BBC|location=London, UK|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324075852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1420933.stm|archive-date=24 March 2010}}</ref> Andrina Colquhoun, Archer's former mistress, confirmed that they had been having an affair in the 1980s, thus contradicting the claim that he and Mary Archer had been "happily married" at the time of the trial.<ref name=Clough>{{cite news|last1=Clough|first1=Sue|title=My love affair with Archer cooled when he tidied up his private life|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1309221/My-love-affair-with-Archer-cooled-when-he-tidied-up-his-private-life.html|access-date=22 December 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=20 June 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224135249/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1309221/My-love-affair-with-Archer-cooled-when-he-tidied-up-his-private-life.html|archive-date=24 December 2015}}</ref>

Archer never spoke during the trial, though his wife Mary again gave evidence as she had done during the 1987 trial.<ref name="Stanford">{{cite news|last1=Stanford|first1=Peter|title=Mary Archer: 'Jeffrey asked from jail if I wanted a divorce, but I'm not a quitter'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/mary-archer-jeffrey-asked-from-jail-if-i-wanted-a-divorce-but-im/|access-date=26 February 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=19 February 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225214252/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/mary-archer-jeffrey-asked-from-jail-if-i-wanted-a-divorce-but-im/|archive-date=25 February 2016}}</ref> On 19 July 2001, Archer was found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice at the 1987 trial. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment by [[Humphrey Potts|Mr Justice Potts]].<ref name=Clough2>{{cite news|last1=Clough|first1=Sue|title=The end: Archer goes to jail|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334653/The-end-Archer-goes-to-jail.html|access-date=22 December 2015|work=The Telegraph|date=20 July 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211082943/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334653/The-end-Archer-goes-to-jail.html|archive-date=11 December 2015}}</ref> Francis was found not guilty. Prominent journalists admitted to having accepted Archer's hospitality after he was convicted.<ref name=Rawnsley2>{{cite news|last1=Rawnsley|first1=Andrew|title=Shepherd's pie and shampagne, anyone?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/22/archer.conservatives|access-date=23 December 2015|work=The Observer|date=22 July 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223150559/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/22/archer.conservatives|archive-date=23 December 2015}}</ref><ref name=Hoggart>{{cite news|last1=Hoggart|first1=Simon|title=Drink the Krug (but avoid the shepherd's pie)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jul/28/houseofcommons.archer|access-date=23 December 2015|work=The Guardian|date=28 July 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223190048/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jul/28/houseofcommons.archer|archive-date=23 December 2015}}</ref> Archer's mother had died shortly before he was sentenced and he was released for the day to attend her funeral.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1424501.stm|title=Archer jailed for perjury|date=19 July 2001|publisher=BBC|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522043651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1424501.stm|archive-date=22 May 2009}}</ref><ref name=McVeigh>{{cite news|last1=McVeigh|first1=Tracy|title=Disgraced Archer back in charge for a few sad hours of freedom|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/22/conservatives.archer|access-date=23 December 2015|work=The Observer|date=22 July 2001|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223235414/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/22/conservatives.archer|archive-date=23 December 2015}}</ref>