Jonathan Aitken to host Ordination party at Old Bailey!
HAVING declared his intention of returning to prison — this time as an unpaid chaplain — Jonathan Aitken is displaying the same adventurous spirit in his choice of venue for the party after his ordination at St Paul’s Cathedral.
I can disclose that the former Tory Cabinet Minister is holding the bash later this month in the Grand Hall of the Old Bailey, where he was handed an 18-month sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice in 1999.
The judge, Mr Justice Scott Baker, reflected that Aitken, now 75, had woven ‘a web of deceit’.
Use of the Old Bailey for social purposes is a rare privilege, generally granted only to the judiciary. ‘We assess every booking and make sure it’s the right thing to do and not seen as controversial,’ a spokesman tells me.
There is currently no fee for using the Grand Hall, which can comfortably accommodate 180 guests.
That detail is unlikely to escape Aitken’s attention. It was a bill for £1,000, incurred at the Ritz in Paris, which precipitated his disgrace. Although he was Minister for Defence Procurement, he allowed aides of the Saudi royal family to pay the bill.
Then, during a libel battle, he claimed that his then wife, Lolicia, had paid it.
That was a lie dramatically exposed in court when evidence was produced which proved that Lolicia had been in Switzerland.
‘Jono’, as Aitken was known during his time in the clink, is inviting friends from the full spectrum of society, from ‘ blowers’ (safe-crackers) and ‘blaggers’ (armed robbers) to ‘parliamentarians’.