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Saatchi PA jury consider verdicts Nigella Lawson PA jury consider verdicts
(35 minutes later)
Jury in trial of two sisters accused of defrauding Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson consider verdicts The jury in the trial of two sisters accused of defrauding Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson has been sent out to consider their verdicts.
More to follow. Francesca Grillo, 35, and her sister Elisabetta, 41, are accused of spending £685,000 on credit cards belonging to the TV cook and her ex-husband.
The sisters deny committing fraud and claim they were authorised to spend the money by Ms Saatchi.
The judge told the jury "the battle lines in this case are clearly drawn".
"The Crown's case is that these two women, over a long period of time, acted dishonestly and knew perfectly well they were acting dishonestly," Judge Robin Johnson said.
"The defence case is that they had authorisation, either specifically, in terms of items bought and hotels, or implied - a taxi, taking out cash."
Drug use
During the trial the court heard the sisters used credit cards loaned to them by the couple to buy designer goods.
Francesca is accused of spending the largest amount on herself with a sum of £580,000. The court was told the money was spent on expensive clothes and luxury holidays.
The pair claimed that Ms Lawson consented to the Grillos' spending as they were "intimately connected to her private life and were aware of the drug use which she wanted to keep from her then-husband Charles Saatchi".
Giving evidence, Ms Lawson admitted taking cocaine a handful of times with her late husband John Diamond and once during her marriage to Charles Saatchi. She denied being an addict or having a drug problem.
The judge told the jury of seven men and five women they must reach a unanimous verdict.
The Grillos, of Kensington Gardens Square, Bayswater, west London, each deny a single count of committing fraud by using a company credit card for personal gain between January 1, 2008, and December 31 last year.