23.12.13

Nigella. Time to end the media mess and leave them to it. Police should not waste time investigating.

Much as I am loathe to write even more on this subject (given the excessive media exposure as analysed in my previous postings) I do feel compelled to add this short post.

Did Nigella take drugs? Yes - she admitted this under oath. Was she an habitual drug user? We don't know as all we have is circumstantial evidence and hearsay. Does the fact the jury at Isleworth Crown Court acquitted the Grillos mean Nigella is a druggy? No - and one needs to be careful here - their acquittal means they did not find there was sufficient evidence to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the Grillos fraudulently spent on Saatchi's credit card(s). Yes, a key component of the Grillos' defence was that such spending was permitted spending to cover up Nigella's 'alleged' drug use BUT this was only one element and neither Grillo sister, nor any other witness, including Saatchi himself, actually went as far to say they HAD seen her actually taking drugs -so all is circumstantial. Yes, one can draw the conclusion and make the argument that insofar as the jury believed the Grillo's defence this means they did not believe Nigella's denial of drug use but this is all supposition and none of it proven.

To the supposed special team now being set up as part of a police investigation - really!? First the police said they were not planning on investigating further and then some hours afterwards they said they would be - why? I don't know. What I do know is that aside from an admission of taking drugs on certain past occasions, there appears to be no categorical proof of drug taking or related offences on the part of Nigella and all the evidence that came out in Isleworth Crown Court in relation to her 'drugs habit' was circumstantial. Having (as highlighted in a piece in this weekend's Sunday Times - front page and pps 8-9) been informed that Saatchi did seek to place drug use stories about Nigella in the press, how come he, as the Grillos did not have the same conviction to state under oath in court? So is the egg on face of the Grillo case not enough for a manipulated CPS that they have to go dig deeper and legitimise that (metaphorical omlette) with a 'cause celebre' investigation of Nigella base on purely circumstantial and hearsay evidence?

Let Nigella do the omlettes, the Grillos rebuild their lives and Saatchi can perhaps look to focus his artistic prowess on less of the dark arts.

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