Charles Saatchi cautioned for assault over throttle snap
Charles Saatchi was yesterday cautioned for assault after being snapped with his hand around Nigella Lawson’s throat.
The PR guru was interviewed by police following the pictures publication in the papers and was interviewed by police after handing himself in voluntarily.
Having accepted the caution Saatchi attempted to play down the assault, claiming that the snapshot gave a misleading impression of events outside fashionable London eaterie Scott’s.
The couple had been dining to mark Saatchi’s 70th birthday but instead of celebrating Lawson was left in tears following an argument over their children.
Saatchi claimed to grab Lawson’s neck in order to ‘emphasise his point’ with the tears merely reflecting his partners hatred of arguing.
However Lawson was later seen leaving the family home with the children with no indication of when she may return.
In a statement Saatchi said: “About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella’s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point.”
“There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella’s tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt. We had made up by the time we were home.
“The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke this morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled.”