Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson 'using case as forum for backbiting Her sister-in-law, Rosa Monckton, tweeted: "A man scorned is much more dangerous than a woman #nigella." Miss Lawson is due to be cross-examined under oath about her alleged "daily" use of cocaine after a judge at Isleworth Crown Court in London ruled that the case against Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo should proceed. The Italian sisters were described as "pawns stuck in the middle" of the couple's divorce. Their defence teams argued that the prosecution case had been fatally flawed by an email in which Mr Saatchi suggested that his ex-wife sanctioned their spending when she was "off her head" on drugs. Mr Saatchi was also said to regard his ex-wife as a "habitual criminal" because of her alleged abuse of cocaine, class B and prescription drugs. Anthony Metzer QC, representing Elisabetta, 41, said: "There has been a manipulation of the court process by the two main witnesses in the trial. It is a convenient forum for Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson to rehearse disputed matters between them in the courts, where libel is not possible. He claimed Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson could no longer be presented as "witnesses of truth." But the prosecution said it was "nonsense" to suggest the two aides had been used as "sacrificial lambs to expose Miss Lawson" and her alleged use of cocaine, class B drugs and prescription pills. Judge Robin Johnson lifted reporting restrictions to enable details of the application to be published. Mr Metzer said Mr Saatchi's solicitors sent a letter to Miss Lawson's solicitors on Oct 17 in which he threatened to sue his ex-wife for recovery of the money if she refused to give evidence in the trial.