DailyMail wrote:Row about Nigella's decade of daily cocaine use may have triggered Charles Saatchi's restaurant 'choking' assault, court hearsNigella Lawson 'took cocaine, cannabis and prescription drugs'
Two PAs had a 'tacit agreement' they could spend whatever they like on credit cards in return for keeping Nigella's 'guilty secret', court hears
Off her tits on parmesanThe restaurant row between Nigella Lawson and her husband Charles Saatchi which ended in her apparently being choked by him may have been sparked by her alleged drug-taking, a court heard.
The 53-year-old domestic goddess 'habitually took cocaine' on a daily basis for a decade but kept it secret from her millionaire art dealer husband, it was claimed.
She also allegedly abused prescription drugs and took cannabis during their marriage.
Mr Saatchi accused Miss Lawson of being 'so off your heads on drugs' that she allowed their personal assistants to spend whatever they liked on credit cards in an email, a judge was told.
He branded her 'Higella' in the message - and accused her of 'poisoning' her daughter Cosmina, 19, with drugs before adding: 'Classy!'
The claims emerged as Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo prepare to stand trial charged with spending £300,000 on luxuries including designer clothes and first-class air travel on their credit cards.
Mr Saatchi and Nigella split up after their ten-year marriage collapsed when pictures were published in June showing the art dealer holding his wife by the throat.
During the row, he could also be seen grabbing her nose.
The incident on the terrace of Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, was dismissed by Mr Saatchi as nothing more than 'a playful tiff' but he later accepted a police caution for assault
Anthony Metzer QC, defending Elisabetta, told Isleworth Crown Court the row may have been about Miss Lawson's alleged drug use and the credit card fraud claims.
He said: 'We are submitting the row that happened resulting in Mr Saatchi assaulting Nigella may have had something to do with Nigella taking drugs and may have something to do with the issue before this court of whether she gave them (the defendants) authority to use the cards.'
Referring to the Grillo sisters, he added: 'Our clients have been the innocent pawns in a rather unpleasant battle going on between Mr Saatchi, Miss Lawson and their lawyers.