A humiliated Nigella Lawson last night lashed out over her ‘malicious’ treatment in court.
As her two former housekeepers were cleared of a £685,000 credit card fraud, she said she had been ‘vilified’ and could not forgive the court process.
Miss Lawson described allegations of her drug taking as a ‘ridiculous sideshow’, and said she found her time as a witness deeply disturbing. Last night huge question marks hung over the 53-year-old celebrity cook’s career, after the end of a dramatic trial in which details of her alleged secret drug abuse, disastrous marriage and chaotic lifestyle were laid bare.
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Fury: Nigella Lawson, pictured leaving Isleworth Crown Court after she gave evidence, has lashed out at drugtaking allegations against her which she called a 'ridiculous sideshow' orchestrated by her ex-husband
The jury found Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo not guilty. The pair said they had effectively been permitted to spend money as they wished in return for keeping quiet about Miss Lawson’s use of drugs.
Last night Miss Lawson said the trial was part of a campaign by her 70-year-old ex-husband, the multi-millionaire Charles Saatchi to ‘destroy her’ with malicious and false allegations.
In an extraordinary statement, she hit out furiously at the judicial system, saying her experience as a witness had made her feel as if she was the one on trial.
She said it had been harrowing to see her children ‘subjected to extreme allegations in court without any real protection or representation’, adding: ‘For this I cannot forgive the court process.’
And she again accused her ex-husband of a ‘sustained background campaign deliberately designed to destroy my reputation.’
Maliciously villified: Nigella Lawson's full statement, which attacked the court system and her former husband
Not guilty: The TV cook accused her ex-husband of a campaign 'deliberately designed to destroy my reputation' as former aides Elisabetta Grillo (left) and Francesca Grillo (right) were cleared of a £680,000 credit card fraud
Harrowing: A furious Miss Lawson said her children had been 'subjected to extreme allegations in court without any real protection or representation', adding: 'For this I cannot forgive the court process'
Miss 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. I did my civic duty, only to be maliciously vilified without the right to respond.’
She had never wanted to talk about her traumatic divorce, she said, and remained concerned ‘about a campaign to circulate false allegations carried out over the course of this summer’.
Miss Lawson, pictured leaving court, accused her ex-husband Charles Saatchi of 'intimate terrorism'
Over two days of humiliating evidence, Miss Lawson was forced to deny she was a drug addict after confessing to having snorted cocaine and smoking cannabis.
Her former housekeepers, who admitted lavishing huge sums of money on themselves at her expense, had claimed that drugs were rife in the household, that she had taken cocaine nearly every day and that she had even allowed her children to smoke cannabis. They said Miss Lawson had let them spend what they liked in return for keeping her cocaine addiction and heavy cannabis use a secret from her ‘shouty’ and frightening husband.
Miss Lawson categorically denied she was a habitual drug user – but her attempts to play down her drug use and preserve her wholesome image were effectively rejected by the jury’s verdict yesterday.
There were cries of ‘C’e un dio’ – ‘There is a God’ – from the two women’s defence lawyers as the verdict was returned. The decision threatens to destroy Miss Lawson’s hopes of becoming a major television star in America.
The cook is currently appearing on US TV show The Taste – but the country takes a notoriously tough line on allowing those accused of drugs offences even to cross its borders.
And Miss Lawson also faces the prospect of further legal action in the UK. The police yesterday said they had no immediate plans to take action against Miss Lawson over her admitted cocaine and cannabis use and alleged use of cannabis with her children.
But in a statement, they said they would not rule out launching a new investigation if fresh evidence emerged.
And Mr Saatchi has previously threatened to sue his ex-wife for £500,000, saying it would be her fault if the Grillos escaped jail because she was ‘so off her head on drugs’.
Mobbed: Miss Lawson said the allegations of her drugtaking had overshadowed the trial of Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, pictured surrounded by security as they left Isleworth Crown Court today
The trial at Isleworth Crown Court, which came after the couple reported the Grillo sisters to police in the summer of 2012, exposed the intimate lives of Miss Lawson and Mr Saatchi to full public view.
Mr Saatchi’s preference for burnt toast, eggs and frappuccinos over his wife’s delicious meals, his alleged shouting and expletive-filled rages, and Miss Lawson’s claim that he grabbed her by the throat out of jealousy simply because she talked of longing for grandchildren were all heard by the court.
Miss Lawson also spoke at her relief at finally being free of the ‘brutal’ Mr Saatchi, whom she accused of ‘intimate terrorism.’
The escalating claims led Anthony Metzer QC, defence barrister for Elisabetta Grillo – known as Lisa – to claim the famous couple were abusing the court process to settle scores over their divorce.
While the housekeepers eventually walked free from court, they still face potential civil action from Mr Saatchi to recover the money they spent. Many of their designer clothes have been seized to be sold.
Their elder sister, Anna Grillo, last night spoke from the family home in Calabria, Italy of her relief that ‘the nightmare is finally over.’ Through sobs, she said: ‘It is thanks to God that people in Britain have finally seen the truth. The girls have never done anything to hurt Nigella and Charles.
‘They cared for their children like they were their own family, always, and this is how they were repaid.’
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