Nigella Lawson: I have taken cocaine, but I am not an addict

The TV chef told a west London court that she had taken cocaine, but described the claim that she was a “drug addict or habitual” user of the drug as “absolutely ridiculous”. “I did not have a drug problem,” said Ms Lawson. “I had a life problem”.

Ms Lawson said she took cocaine with her late husband John Diamond when he found out he had terminal cancer, and in July 2010 when she was being “subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi”. She also admitted to smoking cannabis “relatively recently” to make “an intolerable situation tolerable”.

However she said that since “freeing myself from a brilliant and brutal man, I’m now totally cannabis, cocaine, any drug-free.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Ms Lawson said that she had been “put on trial” by allegations of drug use that had been circulated on the internet and “sent to every media outlet”, and added that she had endured a “summer of bullying and abuse”.

The idea that I am a drug addict or habitual user of cocaine is absolutely ridiculous – Nigella Lawson

Ms Lawson said that cocaine had given her first husband “some escape” when he found out his cancer was terminal, and that she took it with him six times.

She also took cocaine in July 2010, when she said she was having “a very very difficult time”. “I felt subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi,” she added, saying she felt “isolated and in fear of… just unhappy.”

“A friend of mine offered me some cocaine. I took it,” she said, but the drug “completely spooked” her. “The idea that I am a drug addict or habitual user of cocaine is absolutely ridiculous,” she added.

Dressed all in black, apart from a white collar, Ms Lawson said that allegations of her drug use had begun circulating on a “PR blog” ever since the “awful incident at Scotts (restaurant)”. Ms Lawson said said Mr Saatchi “told everyone” he was taking cocaine out of her nose after he was photographed holding her neck outside the restaurant.

She claimed the incident was actually sparked when she commented on a person walking by with a baby:

“I said ‘I’m so looking forward to having grandchildren’,” Ms Lawson told the court.

“He grabbed me by the throat and said ‘I’m the only person you should be concerned with’.”

‘I have been put on trial’

The court heard how Ms Lawson had been reluctant to give evidence in the trial because she believed that details of her marriage breakdown would be made public. But Ms Lawson said her ex-husband’s response had been to threaten her: “He had said to me if I didn’t go back and clear his name he would destroy me.”

The TV chef was giving evidence as a prosecution witness in the trial of her former personal assistants, the Italian sisters Elisabetta (Lisa) and Francesca Grillo, who are accused of defrauding Ms Lawson and Mr Saatchi for £685,000.

Ms Lawson said these allegations on the PR blog were “dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi’s reputation and destroying mine”.

“He started spreading false allegations of drug use, in particular the awful incident at Scott’s,” she said, “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.”

Yes, he did have a temper and I don’t think that anyone can be in any doubt he had a temper – Nigella Lawson

She added: “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.”

Mr Saatchi at the time said the incident at Scott’s was a “playful tiff”, and he later accepted a police caution.

The Grillo sisters are accused of abusing their positions by using credit cards loaned to them by Ms Lawson and Mr Saatchi to spend more than £685,000 on themselves. The pair allege that Ms Lawson gave them permission to spend the money, in return for not telling Mr Saatchi about her drug use.

An email from Mr Saatchi to Ms Lawson – in which he calls her “Higella” and said that the personal assistants would “get off” because she was on drugs – was made public last week after it was used by the defence as evidence.

Mr Saatchi was called to give evidence last week. He said he was “bereft” that the email was made public and that he “did not know” if she had ever taken drugs. The couple divorced in July, soon after the incident at Scotts restaurant, after being married for ten years.

Photo: Francesca (L) and Elisabetta Grillo (R) arrive at Isleworth Crown Court

‘He did have a temper’

Defence barrister Anthony Metzer QC questioned Ms Lawson about family dynamics in the house, before and after Mr Saatchi moved in. He asked if Mr Saatchi had a temper, and Ms Lawson replied: “Yes, he did have a temper and I don’t think that anyone can be in any doubt he had a temper.”

Mr Metzer also asked if Mr Saatchi was patriarchal and traditional, and Ms Lawson said he “didn’t like to take part in family life”. Responding to questioning, Ms Lawson said she was an “independent woman” and had used her own money to pay off the debts of her first husband, John Diamond. She added her independence could “irritate” Mr Saatchi.

When asked about her relationship with her PAs, Ms Lawson said that Lisa had been a “rock” when her first husband was terminally ill with cancer. “Sometimes I had to rush to hospital, she would stand in,” she told the court. “She was my rock. I will never forget what she did for my family.”

Ms Lawson said she had “confided” in Lisa about: “I may have said I didn’t know how much longer I could take this.”

The barrister then asked: “You confided in Lisa that Mr Saatchi had been shouting and swearing at you?”

Ms Lawson replied: “I think she may have even heard some of it, yes.”

But she said that their relationship had changed, and that Lisa had become “bitter” towards the end: “Most of the time she was on Facebook. I do not think her bitterness was towards me personally. I think it was towards her life.”

Ms Lawson told the court she believed the amount allegedly claimed by the defendants was “a lot higher”. “I was very, very careful not to say something was unauthorised if there was even a flicker of doubt,” she said.