Nigella Lawson took drugs, court told

Two kitchen assistants who used to work for British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson have alleged that she was a regular user of cocaine and other drugs, according to reports of a court hearing published by several national British media yesterday.

The two women are being prosecuted for fraud and the allegation against Ms Lawson forms part of their defence. The media reports said the allegation had been described in court by a prosecution lawyer as untrue and “totally scurrilous”. Contacted by Reuters, Ms Lawson’s publicist Mark Hutchinson said: “As proceedings are live we can’t comment at the moment.” Under British law, it is legally risky to comment publicly about what is said during criminal court proceedings.

Ms Lawson's recent divorce from millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi attracted a lot of media attention. Her two former assistants, Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, are accused of defrauding Mr Saatchi out of more than £300,000 during the timethey worked for the couple. They have pleaded not guilty and part of their defence is that Ms Lawson authorised them to make use of Mr Saatchi's credit card in return for their silence about her drug-taking, say British media reports. – (Reuters)