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| Saatchi accused Nigella Lawson of drug-taking, court hears | Saatchi accused Nigella Lawson of drug-taking, court hears |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Charles Saatchi accused his ex-wife Nigella Lawson and her daughter of being "so off your heads on drugs" that she allowed staff to spend "whatever they liked", a court has heard. | Charles Saatchi accused his ex-wife Nigella Lawson and her daughter of being "so off your heads on drugs" that she allowed staff to spend "whatever they liked", a court has heard. |
| Sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo are set to go on trial at Isleworth Crown Court in west London. | Sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo are set to go on trial at Isleworth Crown Court in west London. |
| They are accused of committing fraud while working as personal assistants to the couple. | They are accused of committing fraud while working as personal assistants to the couple. |
| Judge Robin Johnson read out an email sent from Saatchi to his former wife. | Judge Robin Johnson read out an email sent from Saatchi to his former wife. |
| "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you [and your daughter] were so off your heads on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked and yes I believe every word they have said," the email read. | "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you [and your daughter] were so off your heads on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked and yes I believe every word they have said," the email read. |
| It formed part of legal arguments ahead of the trial. | It formed part of legal arguments ahead of the trial. |
| 'Tacit understanding' | |
| TV chef Lawson is expected to give evidence during the trial of her Italian aides Francesca Grillo, 35, and Elisabetta Grillo, 41, which is expected to last at least two weeks. | |
| The sisters, both of Bayswater, west London, deny using company credit cards to spend up to £300,000 on luxuries, including designer clothes and first-class air travel between 2008 and 2012. | |
| The court heard Lawson had a "tacit understanding" with the sisters that they could keep spending, as long as they didn't 'shop her' to Saatchi. | |
| Anthony Metzer, representing Elisabetta Grillo, said: "The bad character application relates to Miss Lawson's alleged taking of Class A and Class B drugs and her unauthorised use of prescription drugs. | |
| "This is a matter highly relative to the defence because, in a nut shell, we respectfully submit she had a guilty secret from her husband. She did not want him to know about her use particularly of cocaine. | |
| "Because the defendants were fully aware of her illicit drug use she consented to their expenditure on the understanding there would be no disclosure to her husband of her drug usage. | |
| "It would not have been verbalised, but it would be along the lines of 'you do this for me I do that for you'." | |
| 'Playful tiff' | 'Playful tiff' |
| The allegations by Saatchi were some of the many communications since the "unhappy events surrounding the witnesses' divorce this summer", Judge Johnson said. | The allegations by Saatchi were some of the many communications since the "unhappy events surrounding the witnesses' divorce this summer", Judge Johnson said. |
| The pair broke up after pictures were published in a newspaper in June showing the millionaire art dealer holding his wife by the throat. | The pair broke up after pictures were published in a newspaper in June showing the millionaire art dealer holding his wife by the throat. |
| The incident on the terrace of Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, was dismissed by Saatchi as nothing more than "a playful tiff" but he later accepted a police caution for assault. | The incident on the terrace of Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, was dismissed by Saatchi as nothing more than "a playful tiff" but he later accepted a police caution for assault. |
| Saatchi later told the Mail on Sunday that the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication". | Saatchi later told the Mail on Sunday that the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication". |