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I stand by my abuse claims says judge sued by mother
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent18 Nov 2008
A JUDGE being sued for libel by her mother over claims of childhood abuse today insisted: "Yes, I was abused for years."
But Constance Briscoe, a leading barrister, admitted she had made some mistakes in her autobiography Ugly".
Her counsel Andrew Caldecott, QC, told the High Court: "Nobody's memory is perfect and there really are quite a lot of mistakes in the book." He added: "It is her case that she is the victim of sustained cruelty as a child and the victim of some neglect - she chose to say it and she has to prove it by evidence."
He said Miss Briscoe had suffered a very unhappy childhood and was neither "a fantasist nor a malicious inventor".
He told the jury they must decide whether Miss Briscoe was physically and emotionally abused by her mother over a lengthy period of time in circumstances that were "cruel and demeaning".
What mistakes were made in the book amounted only to incorrect dates attached to harrowing events that really did happen, he told the jury. Carmen Briscoe-Mitchell, 73, from Walworth, has said allegations in her daughter's book are "piece of fiction".
She is claiming damages from Miss Briscoe, 50, and publisher Hodder and Stoughton Limited which brought out her memoirs in January 2006. Ugly has sold more than half a million copies in Britain. Its title refers to Miss Briscoe's claim that her mother used to tell her she was ugly.
The court heard about allegations made by Miss Briscoe that she was punched by her step-father, who stubbed his cigarette out on her hand, and how she had needed surgery on her breasts because of her mother's assaults.
Mrs Briscoe-Mitchell's counsel William Panton asked the jury to consider whether they could trust Miss Briscoe's memory of alleged events which were said to have happened when she was as young as five. Today he told the court that Miss Briscoe admitted that she had the opportunity at that time to report the alleged abuse to police, social workers and school teachers but never took the chance. He said that in the book she is described by a teacher as "always away with the fairies and should have her head examined".
The case continues.
