Saatchi admits assault on wife Nigella Lawson

Saatchi admits assault on wife Nigella Lawson

Saatchi admits assault on wife Nigella Lawson

LONDON (AP) — Prominent British art collector Charles Saatchi has admitted assault and accepted a police caution after published photos showed him grasping the throat of his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

In Tuesday's editions, The London Evening Standard newspaper quoted him as saying that he had approached police to discuss the incident after seeking legal advice.

"Although Nigella made no complaint I volunteered to go to Charing Cross (police) 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 newspaper, where he is also a columnist. He said the questioning took four hours.

Tabloid newspapers this week published photos of the incident, which happened June 9 in a posh London restaurant.

Saatchi, 70, earlier had characterized the incident as a "playful tiff" during an intense debate about the couple's children.

Lawson, 53, is a well-known TV presenter and chef whose cookbooks are best-sellers in Britain and the United States.

Under British law, a caution is a formal warning given to someone who admits the offense. It carries no penalty, but it can be used as evidence of bad character if a person is later prosecuted for a different crime.

Saatchi had told the Evening Standard newspaper Monday that the photos made the altercation look worse than it was.

Saatchi said "the pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what 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 emphasize my point," he was quoted as saying. "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff."

Saatchi also told the paper the couple "had made up by the time we were home.

"The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled."