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| Nigella Lawson took cocaine and other drugs every day for years, court told | Nigella Lawson took cocaine and other drugs every day for years, court told |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The TV chef and self-styled "domestic godess" Nigella Lawson was a daily drug user taking cocaine as well as class B drugs and prescription medicines over more than a decade, a court has heard | |
| The allegation that the 53-year old, who has made millions as a TV chef and cookbook writer, was keeping a "guilty secret" – drug-taking – from her then husband, the art dealer Charles Saatchi, was made by lawyers defending two Italian sisters, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, against fraud charges at Isleworth crown court in west London. | The allegation that the 53-year old, who has made millions as a TV chef and cookbook writer, was keeping a "guilty secret" – drug-taking – from her then husband, the art dealer Charles Saatchi, was made by lawyers defending two Italian sisters, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, against fraud charges at Isleworth crown court in west London. |
| The claim emerged in pre-trial hearings before a trial in which the Grillos are accused of defrauding Saatchi and Lawson of more than £300,000 while working as their assistants. | The claim emerged in pre-trial hearings before a trial in which the Grillos are accused of defrauding Saatchi and Lawson of more than £300,000 while working as their assistants. |
| On Tuesday, the trial judge, Robin Johnson, lifted a reporting restriction preventing publication of the claims after an email emerged that purported to show Saatchi now accepted the Grillos' claim that Lawson had allowed them to spend freely on the understanding they would not tell her husband about her drug use. | On Tuesday, the trial judge, Robin Johnson, lifted a reporting restriction preventing publication of the claims after an email emerged that purported to show Saatchi now accepted the Grillos' claim that Lawson had allowed them to spend freely on the understanding they would not tell her husband about her drug use. |
| The judge read out part of the email, sent in the runup to the trial, which read: "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked … And yes I believe every word they have said." | The judge read out part of the email, sent in the runup to the trial, which read: "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked … And yes I believe every word they have said." |
| In the email Saatchi sent after receiving allegations of her drug use, he referred to Nigella as "Higella". | |
| In a further statement, taken on Monday, part of which the judge read out, Saatchi said: "At the time of sending the email I was completely astonished by the alleged scale of the drug use set out in the statements. Nevertheless I did believe the allegations. I have been asked whether it referred to a belief that Nigella permitted the Grillos to spend whatever they liked. On reflection I was simply speculating the sisters would use this material to defend themselves." | In a further statement, taken on Monday, part of which the judge read out, Saatchi said: "At the time of sending the email I was completely astonished by the alleged scale of the drug use set out in the statements. Nevertheless I did believe the allegations. I have been asked whether it referred to a belief that Nigella permitted the Grillos to spend whatever they liked. On reflection I was simply speculating the sisters would use this material to defend themselves." |
| The pair worked as assistants to Lawson and Saatchi in their London family home before the couple divorced in July, ending a 10-year marriage. | The pair worked as assistants to Lawson and Saatchi in their London family home before the couple divorced in July, ending a 10-year marriage. |
| The Grillos are accused of "grossly abusing their position of trust" by committing fraud using company credit cards, spending more than £300,000 on luxuries including designer clothes, taxis and first-class air travel. | The Grillos are accused of "grossly abusing their position of trust" by committing fraud using company credit cards, spending more than £300,000 on luxuries including designer clothes, taxis and first-class air travel. |
| Lawson and Saatchi broke up very publicly, this summer ending their 10-year marriage. | |
| During the hearing, in which the defence sought to have the case dropped for "abuse of process", Anthony Metzer, representing Elisabetta Grillo, made fresh claims about a row between Lawson and Saatchi outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair in which Saatchi appeared to grab his wife by the throat and to tweak her nose, in photographs splashed across national newspapers. Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault in June. | |
| "It is our submission the row that happened, resulting in Mr Saatchi assaulting Nigella, may well have had something to do with Nigella taking drugs and may well have had something to do with the issue before this court [of whether Lawson had given the Grillos permission to use the credit cards]," Metzer told the court. | |
| The drug claims first emerged in court in a pre-trial hearing on 15 November when Anthony Metzer, representing Elisabetta Grillo, took the unusual step of lodging a "bad character application" in order to place a question mark over Lawson's reliability as a witness for the prosecution. | The drug claims first emerged in court in a pre-trial hearing on 15 November when Anthony Metzer, representing Elisabetta Grillo, took the unusual step of lodging a "bad character application" in order to place a question mark over Lawson's reliability as a witness for the prosecution. |
| He told the court the application "relates to Miss Lawson alleged taking of class A and class B drugs and her unauthorised use of prescription drugs". | He told the court the application "relates to Miss Lawson 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 nutshell, we respectfully submit she had a guilty secret from her husband," Metzer said. | "This is a matter highly relative to the defence because, in a nutshell, we respectfully submit she had a guilty secret from her husband," Metzer said. |
| "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. | "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.' They had a tacit understanding that they would not shop her, to her husband or the authorities." | "It would not have been verbalised, but it would be along the lines of 'You do this for me; I do that for you.' They had a tacit understanding that they would not shop her, to her husband or the authorities." |
| The drug claim was called "totally scurrilous" by the prosecuting counsel, Jane Carpenter QC, who said the Grillos had made the allegation more than a year after submitting their original witness statement in the case when they were arrested. | The drug claim was called "totally scurrilous" by the prosecuting counsel, Jane Carpenter QC, who said the Grillos had made the allegation more than a year after submitting their original witness statement in the case when they were arrested. |
| "The defendants were arrested on 2 August [2012] and the supplementary statement was not made until September of this year," Carpenter said at the 15 November hearing. | "The defendants were arrested on 2 August [2012] and the supplementary statement was not made until September of this year," Carpenter said at the 15 November hearing. |
| "By this time, the defendants had already admitted their responsibility to the allegations – not least in a letter the sisters sent to Miss Lawson and Mr Saatchi." | "By this time, the defendants had already admitted their responsibility to the allegations – not least in a letter the sisters sent to Miss Lawson and Mr Saatchi." |
| Reading the letter out in court, she said: "Dear Charles and Nigella, we are at our utmost despair and we are reaching out to you in the sincere hope that somewhere in your hearts you can find a way to forgive us. We truly believe we had a bond like a family, you were like, as you said to us, like our English family. We saw you like a mother and father figure. There is not a worse feeling than that. | Reading the letter out in court, she said: "Dear Charles and Nigella, we are at our utmost despair and we are reaching out to you in the sincere hope that somewhere in your hearts you can find a way to forgive us. We truly believe we had a bond like a family, you were like, as you said to us, like our English family. We saw you like a mother and father figure. There is not a worse feeling than that. |
| "All we want to do is put this right and make amends. We plead with you to find a way in your hearts to stop the fighting that's destroying us. From the bottom of our hearts we extend an olive branch in the hope that you understand that we never meant to hurt you in anyway. Please forgive us and help us to put this right." | "All we want to do is put this right and make amends. We plead with you to find a way in your hearts to stop the fighting that's destroying us. From the bottom of our hearts we extend an olive branch in the hope that you understand that we never meant to hurt you in anyway. Please forgive us and help us to put this right." |
| Summing up the application, Johnson said: "The defence asserts that Miss Lawson habitually took cocaine and did so on a daily basis – in addition to her abuse of prescription drugs – throughout the defendants' time in the household." | Summing up the application, Johnson said: "The defence asserts that Miss Lawson habitually took cocaine and did so on a daily basis – in addition to her abuse of prescription drugs – throughout the defendants' time in the household." |
| Lawson has been filming a new Channel 4 cooking competition show, The Taste, based on a US format, in which she acts as a judge along with chefs Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. | Lawson has been filming a new Channel 4 cooking competition show, The Taste, based on a US format, in which she acts as a judge along with chefs Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. |
| Lawson, Bourdain and Lefebvre also featured in the original US version, which is due to return to US network ABC for a second series on 2 January. | Lawson, Bourdain and Lefebvre also featured in the original US version, which is due to return to US network ABC for a second series on 2 January. |
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