Lawson denies cocaine stash and regular use

Nigella Lawson was accused of stashing cocaine in a hollow book to hide her escalating habit, as she told a court she would never risk leaving her children as “orphans” by taking drugs.

The celebrity cook, who has admitted using cocaine and cannabis in the past, denied hiding the drug in the box containing her late husband’s wedding rings as she gave evidence in the fraud trial of two of her former personal assistants.

Barrister Karina Arden, representing one of the defendants, Francesca Grillo, accused Ms Lawson of “very regular use of cocaine”, which “escalated in the last five years”.