Nigella 'let the children smoke cannabis': Former aide reveals allegations of drug use at celebrity chef's home

• Elisabetta Grillo told the court that Nigella let her daughter smoke cannabis
• She said Nigella allowed her to buy £70 of cigarettes for the children
  
• Isleworth Crown Court was told aides were sent to buy Saatchi's book
• The millionaire wanted his book to make it onto a bestseller's list
• Lisa Grillo was sent to shops across London with £200 to buy the book
• Aide accused Nigella and ex-husband Saatchi of lying under oath
• Elisabetta Grillo told court of reaction to infamous photo at Scott's
  
• She admitted she was shocked when she saw the picture in the Press
• Said yesterday she saw evidence of Nigella's drug use 'every three days'
• Elisabetta and sister Francesca had 'tacit understanding' with Ms Lawson
  
• They could 'use credit cards in exchange for silence over drug habit'

By Steve Nolan

Published: 07:10 EDT, 13 December 2013 | Updated: 19:12 EDT, 13 December 2013

The former aide of Nigella Lawson, pictured, claimed that the TV chef let her children use cannabis

Nigella Lawson allowed her daughter to smoke cannabis, a court was told yesterday.

The stark claim was made during the trial that has already heard the TV chef admit to snorting cocaine and to smoking cannabis. She claimed she now sees cannabis as ‘a false friend’.

Miss Lawson had already answered ‘Yes’ when asked under oath last week if she smoked joints ‘with or in front of’ her daughter. The judge then cut off questioning before her answer could be clarified.

Yesterday the allegations against the ‘Domestic Goddess’ deepened with the bombshell claim that she let her daughter use drugs.

Lisa Grillo, 41, who with her sister Francesca is facing a charge of defrauding Miss Lawson and her former husband Charles Saatchi of £685,000 while they were employed as housekeepers, was asked to explain buying cigarettes for Miss Lawson’s children when they were 16 and 17.

The prosecutor demanded: ‘What on earth do you think you were doing buying cigarettes for under-age children?’

Grillo shrugged as she replied: ‘Well, if Nigella Lawson lets the children smoke weed...’

The allegation is the latest in the sensational case at Isleworth Crown Court in West London.

While the trial is about the alleged defrauding, it has often appeared to be more about Miss Lawson’s marriage to Mr Saatchi.

Lisa Grillo was yesterday cross-examined by prosecutor Jane Carpenter about why she spent so much on the Coutts credit card given to her by Miss Lawson – a card with a monthly limit of £25,000 which was paid off by Mr Saatchi without question.

She claimed she had to spend much of the money when looking after Miss Lawson’s now 19-year-old daughter Cosima, known as Mimi, from her first marriage to the late John Diamond, her other child, and on Mr Saatchi’s daughter from a previous marriage, Phoebe, 20.

But the drugs claim came when she was asked to explain £69.71 spent at a duty free shop at New York’s JFK airport in June 2010 –  when the girls were 16 and 17 respectively.

Grillo, an Italian who can speak only broken English, said: ‘It was cigarettes for the children – for Mimi and Phoebe.

‘It was for, I don’t remember how many packets, but it was for the children, and Nigella allowed me to buy that.’ She later said she thought it was all right because ‘Nigella lets the children smoke weed’.

Grillo made another attack on Miss Lawson yesterday, contradicting the extent of her cocaine use and her claims about the infamous photographs of Mr Saatchi gripping her throat outside Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair in June.

It was a photo that led directly to her leaving home and divorcing her husband. The TV chef told the court last week she was not a drug addict. She said she had used cocaine on seven occasions – the last time in 2010 – and that the Scott’s row was nothing to do with the drug being spotted on her nose and wiped off by Mr Saatchi.

Nigella (left) has two children Cosima, known as Mimi (right) and another child who cannot be named

Instead, she claimed, her ‘brutal’ ex-husband grabbed her in jealous rage when she spoke warmly of her desire for grandchildren.

But Grillo said yesterday: ‘When Charles picked her nose at Scott’s restaurant it was proof that she was still doing drugs.

‘So we decided it was the moment for everybody to know the truth – she had lied. When I saw the picture I was in shock. Then I saw other pictures. He picked her nose – so in my eyes it was like that. We decided that was the moment to let everyone know the truth.’

She also claimed to have found evidence of drug taking both at Miss Lawson’s home in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, and later in the home she shared with Mr Saatchi.

Asked why she thought the substance she found was cocaine, Grillo told jurors: ‘I knew what it was. I watch TV. OK, I come from a little village but I’m not so naive.’

The Grillo sisters – who both deny the defrauding charges – claim Miss Lawson let them spend freely in return for them keeping quiet about her drug use, although there was never any express agreement.

Asked why, if Miss Lawson was really snorting cocaine every three days, Mr Saatchi had long been oblivious to his wife’s drug use, Grillo said: ‘He would never go into her office. He would go straight away into his bedroom, he would go straight away upstairs to watch TV.’

She denied massively escalating abuse of her family credit card over the four years to 2012 after realising the bills were not checked and that she ‘could get away with it’.

The trial of the two sisters, who live together in central London, continues.

According to Grillo, Ms Lawson allowed her to buy cigarettes for her underage children from duty free

Grillo, pictured arriving at court this morning, told the court that she felt part of Nigella's family

'I wanted to protect Nigella... but then THAT photo proved she was still on drugs and I knew it was time to tell everyone the truth'

A former aide of Nigella Lawson has told a jury that the infamous photographs of the TV chef having her nose pinched and then being throttled by ex-husband Charles Saatchi is proof that she was using drugs.

Elisabetta Grillo told Isleworth Crown Court that although she was shocked by the photographs which emerged earlier this year, she knew she had to 'let everyone know the truth' when she saw them.

Grillo told the court: 'When Charles picked her nose at Scott's restaurant it was proof that she was still doing drugs.

A former aide of TV chef Nigella Lawson has claimed that the infamous photographs of Charles Saatchi throttling her and pinching her nose are proof that she was using drugs

'We decided that was the moment to let everyone know the truth.

'I was in shock seeing the pictures of him picking her nose.

'I don't like to talk about it I tried to protect Nigella to the end, I never faced her because I didn't want to disappoint her or make her embarrassed'.

When Ms Carpenter suggested that Grillo had disappointed Lawson, the former PA replied: 'She disappointed me too.'

Both Saatchi and Lawson have told jurors that the confrontation which led to their marriage break-up was not over drugs.

Elisabetta Grillo, pictured arriving at court this morning, accused Nigella Lawson and her ex-husband Charles Saatchi of lying under oath

Grillo, 41, said she and her sister at first didn't want to lift the lid on her drug use because they didn't want to 'betray her'.

But they included the explosive drug allegations in their defence after the pictures, taken at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, were published in the Press.

'It was part of my defence, it was time for everybody to know she had lied', she said.

'It was my defence. I didn't want to use it before because I wanted to protect her.'

Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, accused Lisa of concocting the drug allegations 'to create a story to give to the court' in a bid to wriggle out of the fraud charge.

But in a thick Italian accent, Lisa replied: 'No, when I saw the picture I was in shock and then I saw other pictures - he picked her nose.

'It's not my advantage, it's my defence.'

Asked why she didn't tell Mr Saatchi's finance chief Rahul Gajjar about Nigella's drug use when he quizzed her over the use of the conarco credit card, Lisa said she wanted to 'protect' the celebrity chef.

'Why would I mention drugs? I never did, to protect Nigella.'

Lisa and her sister Francesca, 35, both deny a single charge of fraud for allegedly swindling £685,000 out of Mr Saatchi's Conarco credit card and splashing out on designer clothes and globe trotting holidays.

Earlier Lisa admitted she had never personally seen Nigella take cocaine or smoke cannabis.

Elisabetta Grillo, right, said that she and her sister Francesca, left, had a 'tacit understanding' that they could continue to use Nigella's credit card in exchange for silence over her alleged drug use

But she denied claims she had made up the shocking allegations that the TV chef had used the drugs 'habitually' during her ten year marriage to Mr Saatchi.

Ms Carpenter said: 'You say you saw white powder in Shepherds Bush, you have no idea what it was.'

But Lisa replied: 'I knew what it was, I opened it and saw white stuff.'

'I watch TV. I come from a little village but I'm not so naive.

'It was in the toilet in a bag, it was a little package. It was white. Because I opened it I put it in the bin, and I saw it a couple more times.'

She refused to be drawn over the alleged use of drugs by Nigella's late husband John Diamond - because he cannot speak for himself.

'I don't want to talk about John Diamond because he is dead and cannot answer,' she said.

Ms Carpenter put it to Lisa that she made some of the drug allegations up, vastly exaggerating her use of cocaine at Eaton Square home she shared with Charles.

But Lisa rebuffed this saying: 'That was true, it was at Eaton Square. I saw it.

'It was in a little drawer by her writing things in Eaton Square.

'It is true, I saw these rolled up notes with white stuff.

Grillo alleged that both Mr Saatchi and Ms Lawson had lied when giving evidence

Grillo refused to answer questions about Lawson's late husband John Diamond

'I saw it, it was there. It looked Nigella was still doing drugs after we were moving from Shepherds Bush to Eaton Square.'

She said she saw the drug paraphenalia when she was cleaning the house.

And asked why Mr Saatchi hadn't spotted it, she said: 'He would never go into her office. If he was passing by he might talk to Nigella.

'He would go straight away into his bedroom, he would go straight away upstairs to watch TV. I would never have a conversation with him.'

Asked by her defence barrister Anthony Metzerr QC how she felt about revealing the shocking claims, she said: 'I don't like it' but insisted it was true.

She denied splashing out on the conarco card after realising she 'could get away with it' because the outgoings were not checked.

And she insisted she though Mr Saatchi's finance departments went through her spend every month.

Saatchi ordered Team Cupcake to buy HUNDREDS of copies of his book to get it on the bestseller list, Nigella's aide tells court

• Elisabetta Grillo claimed Charles Saatchi sent her to buy his books
• She said she was given £200 four times a week to buy copies
• Grillo claimed other aides also bought numerous copies online
• Drug allegations were only added to Grillo's statement in November
  

Charles Saatchi's book My Name Is Charles Saatchi And I Am An Artoholic was published in 2009

Charles Saatchi gave his domestic staff money to buy copies of his own books to push them up the bestseller charts, a court heard.

His team of five buyers were sent across London to buy the books from different bookshops, it was claimed.

One claimed she was sent out  with £200 at a time, four times a  week, to buy Mr Saatchi’s non-fiction works in a bid to boost their chart position.

It emerged as Lisa Grillo, 41, was pressed on why she drew out thousands of pounds on a credit card given to her by Miss Lawson, which Mr Saatchi paid for.

Grillo replied in broken English: ‘I took cash frequently to pay for the books for Charles.
‘Charles wrote a book and he want to make it high in the list – so I was going in the taxi and I took cash.

‘He give me £200 and want me to go to different stores like Waterstones.

‘Charles no like me to go with the card. I was always go with the cash – he doesn’t like to go with the card to buy his book.’

Grillo, who was in Nigella’s ‘Team Cupcake’ of aides along with her sister and three female personal assistants, went on: ‘He give me £200 and I go all afternoon with the taxi from East London to West London and buy books. It was my job for the day.

‘Four times a week I had to buy Mr Saatchi’s book.

‘I was by taxi, the other girls were buying the book on Amazon or other websites.’

When the prosecution suggested Grillo had made up the bulk-buying story, her barrister Anthony Metzer QC referred to her witness statement, completed months ago.

In it she claims she used cash given to her by the family ‘to pay for the purchase of literature written by Mr Saatchi to increase the sales figures of books authored by him’.

Mr Saatchi’s books include Be The Worst You Can Be: Life’s Too Long For Patience And Virtue, and My Name Is Charles Saatchi And I Am An Artoholic. Be The Worst You Can Be is currently 15,046  in the Amazon charts.

Grillo also claimed yesterday she was allowed to use the family credit card for stays at luxury hotels and numerous massages and spa treatments in London costing up to £500 a time. Her salary was £25,000 a year.

Questioned about why she thought she was allowed to pay for personal expenditure using her company credit card, Grillo said: ‘I have said this so many times – I was part of the family, I worked hard and Nigella wanted to show me how she appreciated my job and my friendship.

‘I was allowed because I was part of the family.

‘It’s not because I was in  the house, because I worked for Nigella, or because they were rich.

‘I was part of the family for 14 years.’

Asked by prosecutor Jane Carpenter if she had taken advantage of Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson, she said: ‘I never did that. Not to Nigella, not to Charles, especially Charles.’

Saatchi, pictured at an earlier hearing, would send his aides out four times a week to buy his book

'They all lied': Aide accuses Nigella and Saatchi ... and insists there WAS an 'understanding' that she could keep spending if she stayed silent over star's cocaine habit

• Lisa Grillo said she found evidence of Nigella's drug use 'every three days'
• Claimed that both Nigella and Saatchi had lied when they gave evidence
  

Elisabetta Grillo had earlier accused the TV chef and Mr Saatchi of 'lying' under oath to the court.

Self styled 'Domestic Goddess' Nigella told jurors that she had only taken cocaine seven times - six times when her husband John Diamond was dying and once in 2010 when her marriage to Mr Saatchi hit the rocks.

But yesterday Grillo, who worked as a nanny and then housekeeper to the family, revealed she saw evidence of drug taking once 'every three days'.

A court drawing of Lisa Grillo on the witness stand this morning. She has insisted that she is telling the truth about allegations that she found evidence of Ms Lawson's aleged drug use

Today as she took to the witness stand for the second day, Lisa insisted she was telling the truth and the celeb couple were lying.

Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, asked her: 'Is it your evidence that Ms Lawson has lied to this court?'

Speaking quietly and with an Italian interpreter standing next to her in the witness stand, she replied: 'Yes'.

Ms Carpenter shot back: 'And Mr Saatchi?', to which Lisa replied 'Yes'.

Ms Carpenter added: 'And you are the one telling the truth?'

Lisa replied: 'Yes'.

She earlier claimed that the sisters believed the had a 'tacit understanding' they could carry on spending in return for silence about the chef's drug use.

But today it was revealed the duo at first refused to expose Nigella's drug use because they had a 'remnant of sympathy' for the TV chef.

'Team Cupcake' Alice Binks (left) Zoe Wales (middle) and Anzelle Wassermann (right) all pictured arriving at court earlier this week

They only included shock allegations that Nigella took cocaine and smoked cannabis and took prescription drugs in their second defence statement, taken in November this year.

Reading from the statement, Anthony Metzer QC, representing Lisa, said: 'The defence will assert that Nigella Lawson habitually indulged in use of Class A and Class B drugs and prescription drugs throughout the time the defendant was employed in the household.

'The defence case is that Ms Lawson's drug use and the defendants knowledge of it materially affected her attitude to the defendants spending and in turn her attitude to that prosecution.

'Whilst it is not the defendants case that there is an explicit agreement for silence in return for acquiescence in expenditure, the intimate atmosphere created by such knowledge informed their relationship and what the defendants considered was permitted by Ms Lawson.'

'The defendant had informed her solicitors of this issue at an early stage, but instructed them that she did not wish it to be raised in her defence statement as she then felt a remnant of sympathy towards Ms Lawson and therefore at that time did not want to wish it to be raised in a court of law.'

Former aide Lisa told the jury that she once found an envelope filled with white powder in the bathroom

The statement added that 'on mature reflection' she the Grillo sisters decided to reveal Nigella's alleged drug use because it cut to the heart of their defence.

Wearing a black skirt, cream shirt and grey coat, Lisa stood next to an Italian interpreter as she gave evidence in the witness stand.

She had a pained expression on her face and looked close to tears as she gave evidence.

The trial continues.

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