Art collector Charles Saatchi has admitted assaulting his wife Nigella Lawson during an argument outside a London restaurant, it is understood.

Police in England have confirmed that neither Nigella Lawson nor any other party has made a complaint of assault after pictures of her husband squeezing the TV chef's throat appeared in a Sunday newspaper.

Crime victims were today urged to stand together in a new bid to thwart thugs and burglars menacing whole communities in Northern Ireland.