British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson’s staff cleared of fraud

By Alexander Winning LONDON (Reuters) – Two former assistants of celebrity chef Nigella Lawson were acquitted of defrauding her and her art dealer ex-husband on Friday after a trial that enthralled Britain with lurid tales of drug use, lavish spending and marital bullying. Sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo were cleared of defrauding Lawson and Charles Saatchi of 685,000 pounds ($1.12 million), having argued in court there had been an understanding they could spend at will on credit cards if they kept quiet about the chef's drug taking. The trial produced sensational accounts of the high society marriage which fell apart earlier this year after Saatchi was photographed clasping his wife's throat at a restaurant in London's Mayfair.