LONDON, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Details emerged this week about British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson's alleged drug use at a hearing for two sisters who worked for her and her ex-husband.
Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo are accused of defrauding Lawson and art collector and advertising mogul Charles Saatchi of 300,000 pounds ($490,000), The Guardian reported. Elisabetta Grillo's lawyer charged Wednesday Lawson and Saatchi are abusing the legal system.
"There has been a manipulation of the court process by the two main prosecution witnesses in this case," Anthony Metzer said. "It is a convenient forum for Mr. Saatchi and Miss Lawson to reprise a disputed issue between them in relation to their marriage in the criminal courts when the subject of libel, short of anything malicious being alleged, would not be possible."
The court heard a letter from Saatchi to Lawson sent in October that said he would sue her for 300,000 pounds if she did not testify at the sisters' trial. In a statement Monday, he said he learned of his wife's drug use at the time their marriage was ending and did not realize how serious it was until some time later.
"They are so much at loggerheads, this is not a situation of having a different recollection," Metzer said. "Mr. Saatchi is saying Miss Lawson is a criminal because she has been taking class A drugs in her home."
Metzer summed up the defense case as saying Lawson wanted to hide her drug use and spending habits from her husband and allowed the Grillos to use the couples' credit cards to ensure their silence.
Lawson, Saatchi's third wife, was married to him for a decade, with their divorce becoming final earlier this year. The Grillos worked for the couple as personal assistants during the marriage.
The sisters are expected to go on trial at Isleworth Crown Court in London.
