Nigella Lawson’s personal assistants, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, have been cleared of fraud.

The TV cook said she “disappointed but unsurprised” by the court decision.

The trial of Francesca Grillo, 35, and sister Elisabetta, 41, heard they spent £685,000 ($1.1 million) on credit cards owned by Nigella Lawson and ex-husband Charles Saatchi.

They claimed Nigella Lawson allowed their spending to cover up her cocaine use.

Nigella Lawson’s personal assistants, Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, have been cleared of fraud

Nigella Lawson, 53, said her experience as a witness was “deeply disturbing” and she had been “maliciously vilified”.

Following the verdict, Nigella Lawson said: “Over the three-week trial the jury was faced with a ridiculous sideshow of false allegations about drug use which made focus on the actual criminal trial impossible.

“When false claims about habitual drug use were introduced I did everything possible to ensure the CPS was aware of the sustained background campaign deliberately designed to destroy my reputation.”

Nigella Lawson added: “Even more harrowing was seeing my children subjected to extreme allegations in court without any real protection or representation. For this I cannot forgive the court process.”

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Nigella Lawson has revealed during a court hearing that she is “not proud” of having used drugs.

Giving evidence for a second day at Isleworth Crown Court, Nigella Lawson said: “I would rather be honest and ashamed… not bullied with lies.”

Nigella Lawson, 53, admitted taking cocaine while she was living with her late husband, John Diamond, and her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi.

Responding to claims from the defense that she was not honest about her drug use, Nigella Lawson said: “No-one really wants their errors having the spotlight put on them.

“When I needed to tell the truth, I told the truth.”

Nigella Lawson has revealed during a court hearing that she is “not proud” of having used drugs

Under cross-examination, the TV cook said: “I’m not proud of the fact I have taken drugs but that does not make me a drug addict or a habitual drug user.”

Nigella Lawson was accused by defense barrister Karina Arden of using the court case as “damage limitation” and a vehicle to explain herself to the world’s media.

She denied the allegation, saying she did not want to attend the hearing at all because she had been “menaced”.

The court was told Nigella Lawson first used the Class A drug with him in 1999.

She said she took it again in July 2010 after she felt she had been “subjected to intimate terrorism” by Charles Saatchi.

Nigella Lawson said her ex-husband had “made up” a story after he was photographed gripping her throat and tweaking her nose outside Scott’s restaurant in central London.

Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson divorced in July, months after the pictures emerged.

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Nigella Lawson appeared in court today saying her ex-husband Charles Saatchi threatened to “destroy” her with “false” allegations of drug use.

The TV cook and author said Charles Saatchi made the threat after she had shown reluctance to give evidence at the trial of her assistants.

Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo face fraud charges at Isleworth Crown Court.

The Grillo sisters’ defense has claimed they were allowed to spend on credit cards by Nigella Lawson in return for covering up her use of drugs.

Nigella Lawson said that the allegations that have been made about her at the trial had followed “a long summer of bullying and abuse”.

“I have been put on trial here where I am called to answer, and glad to answer the allegations, and [in] the world’s press,” she said.

Nigella Lawson said she had been reluctant to give evidence in the trial, which had provoked an angry reaction from Charles Saatchi.

Nigella Lawson has told a court her ex-husband Charles Saatchi threatened to “destroy” her

“He had said to me if I didn’t get back to him and clear his name, he would destroy me,” she said.

Nigella Lawson said following the “awful incident at Scotts”, the “false” allegations began circulating on a “PR blog”.

Charles Saatchi was cautioned for assault after images of him grasping Nigella Lawson by the neck at the London restaurant appeared in a newspaper.

She said the allegations on the blog were “dedicated to salvaging Charles Saatchi’s reputation and destroying mine”.

On Friday, Charles Saatchi told the court that he had “no proof” that Nigella Lawson had ever taken drugs.

The couple divorced in July after 10 years of marriage.

The Grillo sisters, Francesca, 35, and Elisabetta, 41, are accused of using credit cards loaned to them by the couple to spend more than £685,000 on themselves.

Nigella Lawson told the court Elisabetta did not have a strong moral compass, but she said the 41-year-old was a “stalwart” who had helped her through the death of her first husband.

She said the allegations of fraud “broke our heart” when they were revealed to her and Charles Saatchi.

Nigella Lawson said Elisabetta Grillo had been “a rock”, adding: “I would have done anything for her.”

Defending, Anthony Metzer QC asked Nigella Lawson if Charles Saatchi had a temper.

She said that he “did have a temper and I don’t think that anyone can be in any doubt he had a temper”, adding that she had confided in Elisabetta about Charles Saatchi’s outbursts.

Nigella Lawson told the court that Charles Saatchi used to shout and swear at her, and she told the defendant privately: “I don’t know how long I can take this.”

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There was a “culture of secrecy” in Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson’s marriage, a London court has heard today.

The news emerged during legal argument in the case involving Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson’s personal assistants who are accused of fraud.

Sisters Francesca, 35, and Elisabetta Grillo, 41, deny spending more than £685,000 ($1.1 million) on Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson’s credit cards.

Isleworth Crown Court has already heard how Charles Saatchi accused Nigella Lawson of allowing their staff to spend to cover her use of drugs.

Anthony Metzer QC, representing the Italian sisters, told the court: “The defendants’ case is that Nigella Lawson lied to her ex-husband about her drug use and about the expenditure that was incurred by the defendants, both expressly and implicitly, because she was fearful of Mr. Saatchi’s reaction if he knew about the extent of the expenditure and drug use.

“There was a culture of secrecy within Nigella Lawson’s marriage.”

He added: “If Mr. Saatchi is telling the truth, then Ms Lawson is a habitual criminal.”

After the jury was sworn in, prosecutor Jane Carpenter opened the case, stating that the trial “relates to the high life lived by Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo.

“The sort of life you may often see portrayed in glossy magazines.

Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson broke up in the summer after pictures were published showing the millionaire art dealer holding his wife by the throat at the restaurant in Mayfair

“But we say that they did so not by their own endeavors but in a greedy and fraudulent free-for-all by abusing the trust of their employers in a four-year spending spree.”

She added: “The defendants both of whom were women of good character, employed by a wealthy family in a position of trust decided to abuse their [credit] cards.

“They travelled the world staying in top hotels and spent exorbitant sums of money on clothes and accessories.

“In total they spent in excess of £685,000. Francesca Grillo spent more than £580,000 and Elisabetta Grillo around £105,000.”

Earlier, the judge ruled the case against the Grillo sisters can go ahead, despite the defense lawyer arguing his clients would not get a fair trial.

Judge Robin Johnson said that “with the right rulings and the ability to monitor the process of the court during the process of the trial, a fair trial can be achieved”.

Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, both of Bayswater, west London, deny fraudulently using company credit cards to buy luxuries, including designer clothes and first-class air travel, between 2008 and 2012.

Anthony Metzer said his clients would not be able to receive a fair trial “as there has been a manipulation of the court process by the two main prosecution witnesses in this case”.

He said: “It’s a convenient forum for Mr. Saatchi and Ms Lawson to rehearse disputed issues between them… in the criminal courts where, of course, the possibility of libel is not possible.”

Prosecution lawyer Jane Carpenter argued the case should not be thrown out as “nothing raised shows manipulation of court process” and “the timeline proves it”.

“This case therefore started long before any allegations of drug taking,” the prosecution lawyer added.

During the hearing, Anthony Metzer read out part of a statement from Charles Saatchi, which said: “It was only during the break-up that I became aware that she was taking drugs when we were married.

“I can’t remember precisely when but I think it was in June 2013, at the time of the well-publicized incident at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair.

“It was subsequently confirmed to me by other people in and around the household.”

Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson broke up in the summer after pictures were published showing the millionaire art dealer holding his wife by the throat at the restaurant in Mayfair.

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Recent reports claim that Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce.

According to The Mail on Sunday, in a series of text messages and phone calls, Charles Saatchi warned he would take his own life and begged his wife to contact him. The “harassing” messages show the depths of despair – some friends  say madness – into which Charles Saatchi has sunk.

It appears that he has accused Nigella Lawson of potentially criminal behaviour and allowed his young daughter to make statements alleging illegality by her stepmother.

The revelations come as Nigella Lawson prepares to step up her cookery career, with plans for endorsements, another book and a new TV series to be filmed in Los Angeles in September. She has not seen her estranged husband since photographs of him grasping her by the throat were published in a Sunday newspaper eight weeks ago.
Nigella Lawson has also refused to answer any of the messages Charles Saatchi has been leaving on a daily basis.

Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce

However, Nigella Lawson finally relented after Charles Saatchi, 70, said he would kill himself. Such was his despair, his 18-year-old daughter Phoebe also texted her former stepmother to say she was worried about her father’s state of mind.

Friends revealed details of his desperate behaviour after being “appalled” that he allowed his daughter to attack Nigella Lawson by claiming her stepmother had abandoned her.

The couple spoke twice on the phone in the days after their decree nisi was granted on July 31. It is understood that the threats of suicide were made in at least one “ranting” phone call.

According to a friend of Nigella Lawson, she felt she was left with little choice but to contact him.

The friend said: “Charles has been texting and phoning Nigella endlessly. One minute he’s pleading, the next bullying. Her silence has been driving him crazy. When she didn’t reply, he used Phoebe to get Nigella to talk to him, to tell her she was worried about his state of mind. He’s not above using Phoebe as a bargaining chip. In the end, after the threats, Nigella called him. The first conversation was quite sweet.

“It was a case of, <<please come back>>. Nigella was sympathetic. She was going out somewhere and said I hope you don’t [do anything silly].

“The second conversation was more difficult but she held firm.”

A friend of Charles Saatchi also confirmed that he had contemplated suicide in recent weeks as he struggled to come to terms with losing his wife and his reputation.

It is said that one of the hardest things for Charles Saatchi has been Nigella Lawson’s refusal to defend him against allegations of being a wife-beater – allegations Saatchi insists they both know aren’t true.

The suicide threats come amid deepening concerns for the former advertising tycoon who has been acting increasingly strangely of late.

Yesterday he allowed his teenage daughter to issue a statement to a newspaper denouncing Nigella Lawson.

Phoebe, his daughter by his second wife Kay Hartenstein, accused her stepmother Nigella Lawson of abandoning her and said: “She has behaved in a very cold-hearted way.”