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Nigella Lawson accuses Charles Saatchi of threatening to destroy her Nigella Lawson accuses Charles Saatchi of spreading false claims about drug use
(35 minutes later)
Nigella Lawson has accused her ex-husband Charles Saatchi of threatening to destroy her as she gave evidence in the trial of their former personal assistants on fraud charges. Charles Saatchi threatened to destroy Nigella Lawson and menaced her with allegations of drug use as their marriage disintegrated, the 53-year-old TV chef told a jury at Isleworth crown court on Wednesday.
Lawson, 53, was greeted by dozens of photographers and television crews from around the world outside Isleworth crown court in west London as she arrived on Wednesday morning. Lawson, appearing in the witness box for the first time in the fraud trial of her former domestic assistants, said she had endured bullying and abuse and felt that the case had become a trial of her alleged drug use.
It is alleged that between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2012, Italian sisters Elisabetta, sometimes referred to as Lisa, and Francesca Grillo, committed fraud by abusing their positions as PAs by using a company credit card for personal gain. She told how she tried to pull out of giving evidence because she believed Saatchi was using the case to air grievances after their marriage fell apart.
Lawson, dressed entirely in black apart from a white collar on her shirt, said: "I have been put on trial here, where I am called to answer, and glad to answer the allegations, and the world's press, and it comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse. I find it's another chapter in that." Representing Elisabetta Grillo, who with her sister Francesca, is accused of the fraudulent spending of £685,000 on the couples' account, Anthony Metzer QC asked Lawson about a statement she gave to police in October saying she did not want to give evidence in the trial. She said that at that time "to say my relationship with Mr Saatchi is not good is nowhere near [the truth]".
She admitted she had been reluctant to give evidence in the trial, and spoke of her ex-husband's reaction to her reluctance. "He said to me if I didn't go back and clear his name he would destroy me," she said standing and speaking clearly on the fourth day of the trial.
"He had said to me if I didn't get back to him and clear his name he would destroy me," she said. "He started spreading false allegations of drug use in particular the awful incident at Scott's and I felt his way of getting things out was to use this case and in September a new addition to the defendants' defence statements came out which Mr Saatchi had menaced me with in August.
Lawson said following the "awful incident at Scott's [restaurant]", false allegations of drug use began circulating on a "PR blog". "I said" 'What allegations? There aren't going to be any.' These were spread on a PR blog dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi's reputation and trashing mine. I felt this would not become a fraud case and I would be put on trial and that is what happened. It comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse and I find it another chapter in that."
She said these allegations on the blog were "dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi's reputation and destroying mine". Saatchi was photographed at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair with his hand clutching Lawson's neck. He accepted a police caution for assault and told the court last week the row was not about drugs and that he "was holding her head by the neck to make her focus".
She described one of the two sisters accused of defrauding her and her ex-husband of hundreds of thousands of pounds as a "rock", whose subsequent betrayal had wounded her and broken her family's heart. The court had previously heard Saatchi had been sent accounts by the Grillos that Lawson was a habitual drug user, after which he sent her an angry email on 10 October mocking her as "Higella".
Giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial the TV cook and author said she had treasured her relationship with Elisabetta. "Nigella, I was sent this by a newspaper and I could only laugh at your sorry depravity," the email began. It continued: "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend what they liked. And yes, I believe every bit the Grillos said."
She said that the 41-year-old, known to the family as Lisa, had been a "stalwart" after her first husband, John Diamond, died. Lawson said that she decided to give evidence "to do my civic duty".
"It is very difficult for me, very difficult for my children but I wanted to do the right thing," she said.
Judge Robin Johnson had earlier cautioned Lawson, wearing a black skirt, black suede boots and a black shirt with a white collar, that she did not need to say anything in the witness box that might incriminate her in the commission of a criminal offence.
She then told the court how Elisabetta Grillo, 41, had become a "rock" and "a stalwart" around the time her first husband, John Diamond, was dying of cancer. She said Grillo's whose subsequent alleged betrayal had wounded her and broken her family's heart.
"I loved Lisa," she said. "My children loved Lisa. She came to us at a very difficult time in our house and she was a rock. I would have done anything for her.""I loved Lisa," she said. "My children loved Lisa. She came to us at a very difficult time in our house and she was a rock. I would have done anything for her."
She said that Lisa Grillo was so dear to her that she had given her £7,000 to spend on getting her teeth fixed even though she did not have much money after Diamond died. Lawson said she had struggled to understand how Grillo could have behaved in such a manner.
However, when allegations emerged that the Grillos had been defrauding her and her second husband, Charles Saatchi, of £685,000 over the course of a four-year "greedy free-for-all", Lawson said she had struggled to understand how Lisa Grillo could have behaved in such a manner.
Asked by Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, how she had felt, she replied: "She broke our heart. I don't know what to say about Lisa. It's very difficult when you find out that someone you have loved and trusted could behave that way. In my heart of hearts I don't believe Lisa to be a bad person but I do believe that she doesn't have a very strong moral compass."Asked by Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, how she had felt, she replied: "She broke our heart. I don't know what to say about Lisa. It's very difficult when you find out that someone you have loved and trusted could behave that way. In my heart of hearts I don't believe Lisa to be a bad person but I do believe that she doesn't have a very strong moral compass."
She said the new had been especially difficult for the children as Lisa Grillo was their link to their father. "The sense of betrayal wounded me," she said.She said the new had been especially difficult for the children as Lisa Grillo was their link to their father. "The sense of betrayal wounded me," she said.
Lawson also said she felt her natural generosity had been abused.Lawson also said she felt her natural generosity had been abused.
"I've always felt that if I have good fortune in my work I am happy to share that," she said, adding that she recalled – "rather ironically" – telling the sisters to treat themselves on her card after she bought herself a pair of £60 shoes after a stressful period of filming. "I've always felt that if I have good fortune in my work I am happy to share that," she said, adding that she recalled - "rather ironically" - telling the sisters to treat themselves on her card after she bought herself a pair of £60 shoes after a stressful period of filming.
"Sixty pounds? What was that for them?' she said. "They must have been laughing at me.""Sixty pounds? What was that for them?' she said. "They must have been laughing at me."
Asked for her impression of Lisa's younger sister, Lawson described Francesca Grillo, 35, as a "slight fantasist" who had told her children that she was an international lawyer.Asked for her impression of Lisa's younger sister, Lawson described Francesca Grillo, 35, as a "slight fantasist" who had told her children that she was an international lawyer.
"She would make strange claims and was detached in a way," said Lawson."She would make strange claims and was detached in a way," said Lawson.
"Because I didn't love Francesca in the same way [as Lisa], her betrayal did not wound me in the same way."Because I didn't love Francesca in the same way [as Lisa], her betrayal did not wound me in the same way.
She added that "a strange sense of entitlement" appeared to have "crept up on" Francesca Grillo.She added that "a strange sense of entitlement" appeared to have "crept up on" Francesca Grillo.
Lawson also told Isleworth crown court that none of her employees was allowed to use their "work" credit cards for personal expenditure. Lawson, also told the court that none of her employees was allowed to use their "work" credit cards for personal expenditure.
Asked by Carpenter whether the sisters had been allowed to use their cards for their own needs, she replied: "No. No one was." Asked by Carpernter whether the sisters had been allowed to use their cards for their own needs, she replied: "No. No one was."
Last week the court heard they ran up a total bill of £685,000 over the course of a four-year "greedy free-for-all", spending as much as £76,000 in one month alone. They are alleged to have used credit cards supplied to them by Saatchi and Lawson for the purpose of making purchases for the family, to buy high fashion items for themselves at boutiques including Miu Miu, Chanel and Louis Vuitton as well as on cash withdrawals, hotels and flights.
Lawyers for the sisters have claimed that Lawson allowed them to spend freely on the account of Lawson's former husband, Charles Saatchi, because they knew she was a daily drug-user taking cocaine, class B drugs and prescription medicines and claimed she didn't want them to share this "guilty secret" with her husband.
A pre-action letter written by Saatchi's lawyers, which was partly read out in court, said: "The claimants [including Saatchi] are also concerned that Ms Lawson gave the defendants' [the Grillos] permission to use the accounts for personal purposes whilst under the influence of drugs and/or that Ms Lawson has no credible recollection of events as a result of drug abuse."
The sisters, both of Bayswater, west London, deny the charge against them.
The case continues.
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