Celebrity prepare dinner Nigella Lawson advised a court docket she had taken cocaine a number of instances together with when being subjected to “intimate terrorism” by her millionaire ex-husband Charles Saatchi,within the newest dramatic twist in a trial that has gripped Britain.
A well known TV star and creator in Britain and the United States,Lawson additionally advised the court docket on Wednesday she had smoked hashish often within the closing 12 months of her marriage to artwork supplier Saatchi however had “never been a drug addict or abuser”.
“I don’t have a drug problem,I have a life problem,” stated Lawson,nicknamed the “Domestic Goddess” after the title of considered one of her best-selling recipe books.
The 53-year-old was testifying on the trial of two of her private assistants who’re going through fraud fees referring to the alleged misuse of 685,000 kilos ($1.12 million) on a bank card belonging to Saatchi’s firm.
Last week the assistants’ defence counsel stated there was a tacit understanding they may spend what they appreciated so long as they didn’t inform anybody about Lawson’s drug use. They deny the fraud fees. The court docket has additionally heard Saatchi wrote Lawson an electronic mail by which he accused her of being “off her head” on medicine.
Lawson stated on Wednesday she had taken cocaine on six events along with her first husband,journalist John Diamond,as he was dying of throat most cancers in 2001.
“It was a small amount but it gave him some escape,” stated the prepare dinner,who is because of function as a mentor and choose in U.S TV cooking competitors present “The Taste” within the new 12 months,on Walt Disney Co’s ABC community.
She stated she additionally used the drug in July 2010. “I was having a very,very difficult time,” Lawson stated. “I felt subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi,” she stated.
“I would say with some shame that I (also) smoked the odd joint in the last year of my marriage (to Saatchi). I am now totally drug-free,” she added.
Lawson and Saatchi,70,ended their 10-year marriage in July,and he accepted a police warning after newspapers revealed photos of him along with his palms round his ex-wife’s neck at a London restaurant a month earlier.
The fraud case has uncovered the bitter rows between them,as soon as considered one of Britain’s most well-known {couples}. Interest within the case has additionally been stoked by the extent to which the assistants allegedly handled themselves to lavish purchases on the bank card and the drug allegations levelled at Lawson.
Flanked by law enforcement officials,Lawson arrived at at Isleworth Crown Court in west London on Wednesday to a barrage of flashlights and TV arc lights from jostling media crews from all over the world.
SISTERS
Earlier in court docket,she accused Saatchi of threatening to destroy her with false drug allegations. She stated she had been reluctant to present proof due to such allegations,which she stated adopted “a long summer of bullying” from Saatchi.
“I felt this would not become a fraud case and I would be put on trial and that is what happened,” she stated. “But I’m glad to answer the allegations here and to the world’s press,” she added.
Lawson advised the jury that following the “awful incident” on the restaurant in June,false allegations of her drug use started circulating on what she known as a PR weblog.
Those allegations,she stated,had been “dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi’s reputation and destroying mine”.
She advised the court docket her reluctance to present proof within the trial had angered Saatchi. “He had said to me if I didn’t get back to him and clear his name,he would destroy me,” she added.
The court docket had beforehand heard that Saatchi wrote her an electronic mail in October by which he stated the 2 assistants on trial,Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo,would be capable of beat the fraud cost due to her drug use.
“I can only laugh at your sorry depravity,” he stated within the electronic mail,which was learn in court docket. “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 whatever they liked.”
In court docket final week,nonetheless,Saatchi stated he had no proof that his ex-wife had ever taken medicine. “Are you asking me whether I think that Nigella truly was off her head? Not for a second,” he stated.
The court docket has been advised by the prosecution that within the 4 months to June 2012 alone,Francesca Grillo,35,spent a mean of 48,000 kilos per 30 days and 41-year-old Elisabetta 28,000 kilos.
At numerous instances through the 4 years to which the costs relate,the court docket has heard,the sisters spent lavishly on flights to New York,lodge stays,designer purses and garments.
Lawson advised the court docket Elisabetta was a stalwart who had helped her by way of the demise of Diamond. She stated the fraud allegations “broke our heart” when revealed to her and Saatchi.
The trial continues.
