Nigella Lawson has denied that her ex-husband Charles Saatchi was wiping cocaine off her nose when a row in a restaurant that led to their divorce.
Miss Lawson, giving evidence for a second day in the fraud trial of two former aides, said Mr Saatchi was guilty of "peddling" lies about the reason for the June bust-up in Scott's in Mayfair.
She also denied a suggestion that she had "lied" to police about her drug use, or that her admission in court yesterday to using cocaine and cannabis amounted to "damage limitation".
Karin Arden, defending Francesca Grillo, who with her sister Elisabetta is accused of fraudulently spending £685,000 on a company credit card, asked Miss Lawson why her admission to taking drugs had not appeared on a police statement she gave when she said she no longer wanted to give evidence.
She had said in the statement that she did not want to give evidence because Mr Saatchi was spreading "false" claims about drug-taking, and Miss Arden said: "You were not frank with police officers. You told a lie because it's not correct to say stories about drugs were untrue."
Related ArticlesNigella Lawson tells court: 'I took cocaine'
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04 Dec 2013Miss Lawson said: "It was true in that what my ex-husband had been saying was he was getting cocaine out of my nose at Scott's and I had been completely off my head for 10 years."
Mimicking the motion of Mr Saatchi pinching her nose, she said: "He went like this. It was not only because I hadn't taken cocaine but it was also the case that Mr Saatchi was not examining me for cocaine. That was a story that he made up afterwards because I would not go back and clear his name."
Miss Arden wanted to show the jury a photograph of the incident but was prevented by the judge from doing so.
Miss Arden suggested that Miss Lawson had "used" the case "as a vehicle" to settle scores with Mr Saatchi in front of the world's press.
She replied: "I didn't want to come to court, I would prefer not to because I had been menaced...I prefer to keep my private life private and I was prevented from doing that."
She added: "I'm not proud of the fact that I have taken drugs but that does not make me a drug addict or habitual drug user."
Miss Arden said: "The simple fact is that yesterday in cross-examination only was the first time that you have publicly said that you have taken cocaine and cannabis, and I suggest that on your part was a case of damage limitation."
Miss Lawson said: "I was asked a question and I responded...I have been frank, I have said what I needed to say and I would rather be honest, if ashamed, and explain about the drug usage but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be bullied and have lies told about an incident that took place in a very humiliating public place."
Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo deny fraud. The case continues.
Law and OrderNews »UK News »Gordon Rayner »Crime »In Law and Order
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