Saatchi accepts police caution for Nigella assault

One photo taken at a London restaurant showed Mr Saatchi with his hands around his wife’s neck, while she looked distressed and tearful. Another showed him leaning across the table to pinch her nose.

In his first statement on the photos the 70-year-old multimillionaire said that they had captured a “playful tiff”, and that the couple had made-up by the time they returned home.

But the photos sparked a police investigation, and Mr Saatchi was given a caution on Monday evening.

The millionaire art collector said on Tuesday that he accepted a caution to stop the incident “hanging over” himself and Mrs Lawson, who have been married since 2003.

I thought it [the caution] was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months – Charles Saatchi

“Although Nigella made no complaint, I volunteered to go to Charing Cross station and take a police caution after a discussion with my lawyer because I thought it was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months,” he told the Evening Standard.

Police said a 70-year-old man voluntarily attended a London police station, adding that he was not arrested but did accept a caution for assault. A caution is usually given when someone admits to an offence, to save on the expense of a full court hearing. It is not a criminal conviction, but can be used as evidence in future.

Ms Lawson, a successful TV chef known as the “domestic goddess” after the title of one of her books, was seen leaving the couple’s shared home on Sunday with her son, but has not made any comment on the incident.

Her spokesperson did not confirm whether her leaving home with her children was a temporary, or permanent, move.

The couple are regularly seen eating at the outside table of Scott’s seafood restaurant in Mayfair, but the photos taken on 9 June, published in the Sunday People, appear to show them having a disagreement.

See more Channel 4 News coverage of domestic violence

‘Playful tiff’

Mr Saatchi, who writes a column for the Evening Standard, told the newspaper on Monday that he recognised the impact of the pictures but said they gave the wrong impression of what had took place.

“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,” he said.

“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 must take every case of domestic violence seriously, and ensure that the abusers receive appropriate sentences Women’s Aid

He said the couple had made up by the time they reached home.

Mr Saatchi added that Ms Lawson, 53, had left home on Sunday because “the paparazzi were congregated outside our house,” and that he told her to leave to escape the attention.

The Metropolitan police did not name Mr Saatchi, but said: “Officers from the community safety unit at Westminster were aware of the Sunday People article which was published on Sunday 16 June and carried out an investigation.”

Ms Lawson, the daughter of the former chancellor Nigel Lawson, married Mr Saatchi in 2003 after her first husband, journalist John Diamond, died of throat cancer. She has two teenage children, Coismo and Bruno, from her first marriage.

‘Take domestic violence seriously’

Polly Neate of the charity Women’s Aid said perpetrators of domestic violence would often try to excuse or minimise their behaviour. She added that the caution given to Saatchi showed that these cases were often not dealt with severely enough.

“Often, women living with abuse at home do not speak out because they are worried they won’t be believed or feel ashamed that their partner has been violent towards them,” said Ms Neate in a statement.

“We must take every case of domestic violence seriously, and ensure that the abusers receive appropriate sentences.”

Photo of the couple below was taken in June 2009 (Getty)