Terrible excuses of our time

matty · June 17, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22935683

Art collector Charles Saatchi says images of him grasping his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, by the neck show "a playful tiff".

The photos in the Sunday People were taken about a week ago outside a restaurant in Mayfair, central London.

"The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place," he reportedly told London's Evening Standard.

Ms Lawson has not commented. Police say they are examining the images.

Officers from the Community Safety Unit for Westminster said they were aware of the article and were making inquiries to see if further investigation is necessary. No complaint has been received.

In Monday's Evening Standard, Mr Saatchi said: "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.

"There was no grip, it was a playful tiff.

"Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.

"We 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."

Ms Lawson and Mr Saatchi, a former advertising executive, have been married since 2003. She has two children, Cosima and Bruno, from her marriage to journalist John Diamond, who died in 2001.

cymrococh · June 17, 2013

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