Saatchi has put me on trial: Nigella

Nigella Lawson has accused her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi, of using the trial of two former aides to "destroy" her with bogus allegations that she took cocaine.

The celebrity chef told the Isleworth Crown Court in West London that Saatchi had "menaced" and "bullied" her to force her to return to him and to shift the blame for their infamous row in a restaurant onto her.

He was "savaging" her reputation, with the result that she, not the defendants, was on trial.

"I have been put on trial here, where I am bound to answer the allegations in the world's press and it comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse. I find it just like another chapter in that."

Struggling to keep her composure as she gave evidence, Lawson confirmed she had told the police in October that she no longer wanted to give evidence for the prosecution in the case of two former assistants accused of fraudulently spending £685000 on Saatchi's credit card.