- Francesca Grillo says she saw evidence every day of Nigella taking drugs
- Nigella would swig from bottles containing liquid medication, court told
- Mr Saatchi told sisters 'you can f****** hide anywhere in Italy but I will find you and destroy you', jury is told
- Asked by Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, if she owned more than 10 bags, Francesca replied: 'Yes. Don't you?'
- She tells the court she had 'no more than 10 pairs' of designer sunglasses
- The Italian and her sister Elisabetta are standing trial accused of fraud
- Child found a hollowed out book containing 'drugs', aide tells jury
Nigella Lawson's former assistant would regularly see white powder on her nose but the TV cook claimed it was make-up, a court heard today.
Francesca Grillo said when she saw pictures of Charles Saatchi picking Nigella's nose she presumed he had found evidence of her drug-taking.
The millionaire art dealer divorced Miss Lawson, 53, after the infamous photos taken outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, were taken this year.
Grillo said she saw evidence of Nigella taking drugs every day that she worked for her over 11 years.
Francesca, 35, is standing trial alongside her sister Elisabetta, 41, charged with spending £685,000 on themselves using Mr Saatchi's credit cards.
Accused: Elisabetta Grillo (left) and Francesca Grillo (right) with a member of their legal team (centre) arriving at court
The younger sister told the jury at Isleworth Crown Court that she presumed Mr Saatchi had confronted Miss Lawson outside the restaurant about drugs.
'In the photos she appears to be crying. It shocked me because she said she didn't cry very often in public,' she said.
'The one that stuck in my mind was the one of him picking her nose. Maybe he found something relating to drugs.'
The TV cook admitted snorting cocaine when giving evidence to the court - but said she had only taken it seven times in total.
She also said Nigella would swig from bottles containing prescription sleeping tablets and anti-depressants including Xanax.
NIGELLA 'KEPT ENGLISH MUSTARD IN HER BAG AT ALL TIMES'
In one of the trial's more surprising revelations, the jury was told Nigella Lawson kept a tube of English mustard in her handbag at all times.
Francesca Grillo said it was a 'weird' habit the TV cook had got into.
However, she declined to tell the jury what was Nigella's favourite brand.
Francesca said she found cocaine contaminated notes nestling between her keys and the mustard.
She said: 'She likes to carry a tube of English mustard. I know it sounds weird but that is what it was.'
Francesca Grillo said it was a 'weird' habit the TV cook had got into.
However, she declined to tell the jury what was Nigella's favourite brand.
Francesca said she found cocaine contaminated notes nestling between her keys and the mustard.
She said: 'She likes to carry a tube of English mustard. I know it sounds weird but that is what it was.'
She said she 'frequently' found rolled-up banknotes in Miss Lawson's handbag which had a white powdery substance on them.
Francesca said she first saw the notes in the food writer's Shepherd's Bush home while she was married to her first husband John Diamond. They were in the kitchen after a party and also in a guest bedroom.
She said one of her jobs as Miss Lawson's aide was to exchange items between her handbags, and she would find rolled-up banknotes in those.
Asked how often she looked in Lawson's handbag and what was in it, Grillo replied: 'At least once a day.
'Could be her keys, her phone, her mustard - she likes to carry a tube of English mustard'.
Grillo was then asked how often she would find rolled up banknotes speckled with white powder.
'It was frequent. Every time I went through her handbag there were notes so it was frequent to me'.
Asked if she ever raised the issue of drugs, she replied: 'No. I didn't think it was my place.'
'Nose incident': Nigella Lawson's former PA Francesca Grillo told a jury today that the thing that stuck in her mind was Charles Saatchi 'picking her nose'. Francesca added: 'Maybe he found something relating to drugs'
Drug claims: Nigella Lawson's former aide told the court she would regularly see white powder on the TV cook's nose
Miss Lawson would tell Francesca 'you're good at finding things' and ask her to look for belongings in her handbags, the jury heard.
The former personal assistant to Lawson said that she saw the banknotes every day up to May last year and that there were further signs of her drug use.
'She would come down and she had white powder inside of her nostril.
'A few times I just ignored it but one time I said "Nigella, you have something in your nose" but she just brushed it off and said it was make-up'.
When defence counsel Karina Arden said the substance could have been make-up, Francesca replied: 'Too white to be make-up.'
Francesca said she thought Nigella took the cocktail of drugs to help her stay up all night when she was writing her recipe books.
She said: 'Especially when she was writing a new book, or her last book, she said she needed to work through the night because she was so busy and I think she needed help to stay up all night.
'And then she had a runny nose for a long period which appeared to me quite strange because it was even in the summer.
'She would go from being very nice and very kind to being absent and grumpy.'
Asked if she thought Mr Saatchi knew about the chef's drug use, she said 'no'.
She told the court that Nigella could suddenly turn grumpy and suffered from mood swings.
She said: 'She had always been quite a warm caring person, but in the last few years she was quite grumpy or moody, blaming the fact she couldn't sleep and the children weren't turning out as she would like them to be.
'She was changeable.'
Francesca also recalled how she improvised an excuse to protect her employer when a child discovered a hollow book containing what the employee thought were drugs.
The defendant told the court: 'She (the child) said 'Look what I found in (the) book!'.
'It was a small plastic bag with white powder. I made up something.'
Fraud charge: Elisabetta Grillo (left) and her sister Francesca who are accused of spending £685,000 on Charles Saatchi's company credit cards
She told the court: 'I didn't speak to Nigella (about the discovery).
'I didn't think it was my place. I felt close to her but I didn't think it was a nice subject.'
Francesca said she found cannabis in a child's room in the home, and the television cook would swig from bottles containing liquid medication.
She told the court: 'Miss Lawson had medication for depression.
'She would take it directly from the bottle.'
Asked by Miss Arden how frequently she would see Miss Lawson take medication in this way,
Francesca said: 'Very often. She had one bottle in the kitchen and one bottle in the bedroom.'
The witness said Miss Lawson later became 'absent and grumpy', and had trouble sleeping.
Grillo admitted she had designer dresses but said she also bought high street clothes from Topshop, adding: 'There's a mix, like anyone else.'
She said she did not count how many pairs of designer sunglasses she had bought but it was no more than 10 pairs.
She kept her favourite shoes, including pairs by Christian Louboutin and Chanel, on display on the window ledge in her room and had also been given a Miu Miu pair by Ms Lawson.
She 'probably' had more than 20 pairs of designer footwear, she told the court.
Designer handbags by Mulberry and Christian Dior, as well as high street chains Zara and H&M were also in her collection, the jury was told.
When Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, asked if she owned more than 10 bags, Grillo replied: 'Yes. Don't you?'
The barrister told the defendant: 'I don't have to answer questions here in this court.'
The prosecutor pored over a list of credit card payments on Mr Saatchi's Conarco company account - alleging they were evidence of personal shopping trips for Grillo.
Details included hundreds of pounds spent on designer clothes and accessories.
Ms Carpenter also quizzed Grillo on a specific pharmaceutical transaction to which she replied: 'It's fat-burning tablets.'
Asked who they were for, the defendant replied with a smile: 'I don't think they were for me.'
The court heard of foreign trips to America and Europe, including one five-day holiday in New York in early December 2009, which Grillo said was with the children.
When it was pointed out the holiday fell during what is normally considered term time for most children, Grillo replied: 'I don't really think they (Mr Saatchi and Ms Lawson) follow strict rules on school holidays.'
Asked if Grillo was suggesting the couple allowed their children to miss school for this reason, the defendant replied: 'Yes, I suggest so.'
Grillo said she would always seek authorisation for personal expenditure 'because that's polite'.
Her clothes are now in the possession of Mr Saatchi's lawyers, the court heard.
The sisters, from Bayswater, west London, each deny a single count of committing fraud by using a company credit card for personal gain between January 1 2008 and December 31 last year.
'You can f****** hide anywhere in Italy but I will find you and destroy you': Aide tells of Saatchi's 'personal vendetta' and threats against her and her sister
- Mr Saatchi had a 'personal vendetta' against me, claims Italian sister
- Millionaire was banging on the table and saying 'I would end up in handcuffs', Francesca Grillo tells the court
- Sisters spent three hours locked in a cell after being arrested, court hears
- Finance director had told them to sign letters admitting dishonesty and promising to keep working for Mr Saatchi to pay off their debts
- But Francesca and Elisabetta refused and police were later called
Francesca Grillo said Mr Saatchi had a 'personal vendetta' against her and her sister Elisabetta, who also faces a charge of fraud.
The sisters are alleged to have spent £685,000 on credit cards belonging to the celebrity couple, who were divorced earlier this year.
'I will destroy you': Charles Saatchi told Francesca Grillo he would 'hunt her down', she claimed as she gave evidence to the jury today. He is pictured here at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, last night
Night out: Charles Saatchi and Trinny Woodall are seen eating at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London, last night
Francesca, 35, said that Mr Saatchi asked to see her at his home in July after his financial director Rahul Gajjar confronted her and Elisabetta, 41, with credit card statements.
The court heard Mr Gajjar had asked the sisters to sign a letter the previous day, admitting dishonesty and promising to continue working for Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson for a reduced salary for an unlimited period of time.
The Grillos had not signed the letter and asked for a copy of it while they considered their options, the jury heard.
Confrontation: Charles Saatchi's accountant Rahul Gajjar who first questioned the Grillo sisters about their credit card spending
After she took a taxi to Mr Saatchi's house, Francesca said he told her she was 'stupid' and asked her: 'Why didn't you listen to Rahul?'
She said she was accused by her then-boss of buying a house on the credit card, which she denied.
Francesca, who is Italian, told the court: 'He was banging on the table... He said I would end up in handcuffs.'
She said the situation became 'quite scary' as Mr Saatchi told her: 'You can f****** hide anywhere in Italy but I'll find you and destroy you'.
She added: 'He said he was going to destroy me and hunt me down. That was his words.
'His voice was shouting and he was banging on the table and accusing me of various things that were not true.
'The more he got upset, the more I got frightened. You don't cross Charles Saatchi, everyone knows that.'
Grillo said being accused of dishonesty left her feeling upset.
'I felt betrayed because I had been honest all throughout my employment,' she said. 'I had been honest about my expenditure so I didn't know where that was coming from.
'I don't get upset easily, but that upset me, and even until today.'
Specifying what had upset her, she added: 'The way he accused me, the things he said about me and the fact he went on a personal vendetta.'
Francesca and her sister spent three hours locked in a cell after their eventual arrest, she told the jury.
'I felt let down by many people and the situation itself,' she said. 'I couldn't believe the people I cherished and loved put me in this situation. I still can't believe it.'
The Grillos wrote a letter to Miss Lawson saying they were 'reaching out' to her and asking for forgiveness, the jury was told.
Defence: Karina Arden who is Francesca Grillo's defence barrister
'We never meant to be seen to be disloyal or seen like we took advantage of our positions,' the court heard they had written.
She said the letter was not admitting 'abuse of position', rather it was saying 'sorry for losing your love and affection'.
Francesca explained she wanted things to go back to normal, 'if they thought we were disloyal and we didn't follow some rules they gave us'.
She previously told the court she had been given a company credit card and was allowed to use it to buy items for herself, with the authorisation of her employees.
In the letter, the sisters said Miss Lawson and Mr Saatchi were their 'English family', adding: 'We saw you like mother and father figures.'
She told the court, with emotion making her voice crack: 'They were my family.'
Grillo left in tears, telling Judge Robin Johnson she needed five minutes to compose herself before she could continue giving evidence.
The Grillos, of Bayswater, west London, each deny a single count of committing fraud by using a company credit card for personal gain between January 1 2008 and December 31 last year.
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