Who is Jeffrey Archer and why did he go to prison? | The Sun

JEFFREY Archer was involved in a scandal which ended with him behind bars in 2001.

Here's what we know about him and the reason why he ended up in prison.

Who is Jeffrey Archer?

Jeffrey Howard Archer also goes by the title Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare.

He is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. 

Archer was born in London on April 15, 1940, and later won a scholarship for Wellington School in Somerset.

In 1963 he secured a spot to study education at the University of Oxford.

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After leaving Oxford, Archer began a career in politics, serving as a Conservative councillor on the Greater London Council from 1967 to 1970.

Archer was the MP for Louth in Lincolnshire from 1969 to 1974 but quit following a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt.

In the 1980s he became the Tories' deputy chairman before resigning after the Daily Star accused him of paying a prostitute £2,000.

He later won a court case and was awarded large damages because of this claim.

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In 1999, he resigned his candidacy in the London Mayor election after it emerged that he had lied about his 1987 libel case.

Why did Jeffrey Archer go to prison?

On July 19, 2001, Archer was sentenced to prison for four years.

He was convicted of three charges of perverting the course of justice and one of perjury over a 1987 libel case around allegations he had sex with a prostitute.

He was acquitted of one charge of perjury.

Archer, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, was accused of lying and creating false diaries to win £500,000 in libel damages from the Daily Star newspaper in 1987.

He took the tabloid to court after it alleged that he paid prostitute, Ms Monica Coghlan, for sex in September 1986.

The prosecution said he faked two diaries he presented during the libel trial to back up his alibi that claimed he was somewhere else on the night in question.

Throughout his time in prison, Archer spent time in a number of different locations, including HM Prison Belmarsh, HM Prison Wayland, HM Prison North Sea Camp and HM Prison Hollesley Bay.

He was released from prison on July 22, 2003, after serving two years of his four-year sentence.

What are Jeffrey Archer's books called?

Archer has become one of the bestselling authors in the world and has sold more than 275 million copies of his books.

He used his jail time to write three volumes of prison diaries that sold well called Hell, Purgatory And Heaven.

Archer has also written a number of books, including William Warwick series, Kane & Abel trilogy, the Clifton Chronicles, children’s books, plays and short stories.

His top ten books include:

• Kane And Abel
• Only Time Will Tell
• The Sins Of The Father
• Best Kept Secret
• Be Careful What You Wish For
• Cometh The Hour
• This Was a Man
• Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less
• A Prisoner Of Birth
• Shall We Tell The President

Where is Jeffrey Archer now?

The perjury case destroyed Archer's political career and embarrassed the Conservative Party.

The millionaire has since gone on to try to rebuild his reputation.

His friends said at the time of his prison release that Archer will campaign for prison reform and resume writing, rather than return to politics.

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His friend Gyles Brandreth told the Independent: "I don't think he has a political life ahead of him, but he does not need to have one.

"He can be a very successful and popular novelist."

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