Nigella Lawson confesses to cocaine use

Domestic diva Nigella Lawson told a jury on Wednesday that “acts of terrorism” by her ex-husband Charles Saatchi drove her to cocaine and cannabis use.

Lawson said she had succumbed to illegal drug use in 2010 when she felt “ashamed, isolated and in fear” and also admitted to smoking cannabis “with or in front of ” her children.

On a day of intense drama at Isleworth Crown Court in west London, the TV cook said Saatchi was trying to “destroy” her by making public her drug use and hoped his “threats” would force her to go back to him.

When that failed to work, he used the drug allegations in an attempt to “salvage his reputation and savage mine,” she said.

Lawson’s admission came during the fraud trial of two former aides, but she repeatedly told a jury she felt she was the one on trial and the victim of a “witch hunt.”

She also gave her first account of the row in a restaurant between her and Saatchi, saying he grabbed her by the throat in a fit of jealousy when she admired someone’s baby.

She claimed when she told him the baby made her look forward to being a grandparent, he grabbed her and told her: “I’m the only person who should be giving you pleasure.”

When asked by a lawyer, “Are you or have you ever been a user of cocaine?” she replied: “I have never been a drug addict, I have never been a habitual user. There were two times in my life when I used cocaine.”