Charles Saatchi has dubbed his ex-wife Nigella Lawson “Higella” and accused her of being “so off your head on drugs” that she allowed employees to steal $530,000 from them, a court has heard.
Charles told theIsleworth Crown Court in London that his 53-year-old former wife had abused drugs for more than a decade. The court was told that the domestic goddess took cocaine on a daily basis and abused prescription drugs during the pair’s marriage.
The Court heard that in order to keep her alleged drug use a secret, Nigella allegedly allowed her two former personal assistants, sisters Francesca and ElisabettaGrillo, to use her credit card in exchange for keeping her addiction a secret from her husband.
However, the Crown prosecutor told the court that the sisters’ claims of Lawson’s alleged drug use were “totally scurrilous and untrue”, and that the allegations had only emerged in the last few weeks.
The sisters are standing trial, accused of fraud against Charles’ company Conraco Partnership for unlawfully using company credit cards to purchase more than $530,000 worth of luxury goods including clothes and first-class travel for themselves between 2009 and 2012.
The shocking developments are the latest instalment in a long line of events surrounding the couple, which was sparked when Charles was photographed with his hands around Nigella’s throat at a London restaurant earlier this year.
Charles told the court the sisters’ spending spree went unnoticed by Nigella because she was “so off [her] head on drugs” and wouldn’t notice.
“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 and yes I believe every word the Grillos have said, who after all only stole money,” he wrote in an email to his wife, which was read out in court.
Charles was asked by Judge Robin Johnson to explain further what he meant in the email and responded with, “At the time of sending the email I was completely astounded by the scale of drug use set out in the statements (from the defendants).
“Nevertheless I did believe the allegations that I’m referring to in the email. I have been asked whether it referred to a belief that Nigella… permitted the sisters to spend whatever they liked. I can’t remember precisely what I had in mind. On reflection I was simply speculating that the sisters would use this information to defend themselves.”
The sisters’ lawyer, Anthony Metzer QC, told the court that his clients were the “innocent pawns” in the case and that the restaurant row may have been about Nigella’s alleged drug abuse and the credit card fraud.
“We are submitting the row that happened resulting in Mr Saatchi assaulting Nigella may have had something to do with Nigella taking drugs and may have something to do with the issue before this court of whether she gave them (the defendants) authority to use the cards,” he told the court.
Lawyers for the sisters told the Court that the pair had a “tacit understanding” they could continue spending as long as they didn’t reveal Nigella’s drug use to Charles or the authorities.
Nigella is expected to give evidence at a later date during the two-week trial.
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