Nigella first left Saatchi a year before they split: Court hears how she moved into £1.4m home with one of aides now on trial

Saatchi was pictured throttling his wife at restaurant in June this year
It emerges in court marriage may have been troubled long before it ended
The couple’s former aides are on trial for an alleged £685,000 fraud
Mr Saatchi's finance director Rahul Gajjar was questioned yesterday
He revealed how one aide was living in Battersea property in July last year

PUBLISHED: 19:43 EST, 28 November 2013 | UPDATED: 20:18 EST, 28 November 2013

Nigella Lawson moved out of the marital home she shared with Charles Saatchi more than a year before their much publicised break-up, it emerged yesterday in court.

Rather than living in the palatial family home near King’s Road in Chelsea, she moved south of the Thames to a property she owned in Battersea, a three-storey £1.4million residence.

She resided there with one of the women now on trial for stealing from her.

It was only in June this year that Mr Saatchi was famously pictured grabbing his wife¿s neck outside a restaurant

Allegations: Nigella Lawson, 53, is set to give evidence against her two former personal assistants later in the trial

Split: Nigella Lawson moved out of the marital home she shared with Charles Saatchi more than year before their much publicised break-up, the court heard yesterday

It was only in June this year that Mr Saatchi was famously pictured grabbing his wife’s neck outside a restaurant.

After he claimed it was just a ‘playful tiff’, she left home for good. He accepted a caution for assault, and divorce followed promptly.

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But when Mr Saatchi’s art gallery finance director Rahul Gajjar was yesterday being questioned over the alleged £685,000 fraud by the couple’s former assistants Francesca and Lisa Grillo, it emerged that the marriage may have been troubled long before it ended.

Mr Gajjar had told the court that when the Italian sisters were accused of spending massively to their own benefit on family credit cards, they were given the option of both living rent-free while trying to pay back their allegedly ill-gotten gains.

'Playful tiff': It was only in June this year that Mr Saatchi was famously pictured grabbing his wife¿s neck outside a restaurant

Evidence: Charles Saatchi is ushered into the court by security as he makes his way past press photographers this afternoon

Bitter row: Charles Saatchi is ushered into court for the trial of two of his and Nigella's aides who are accused of fraud

The accountant said that Francesca was in fact already living rent-free in a property owned by Miss Lawson in Battersea, and Lisa was given the option of joining her.

Mr Gajjar then revealed that in fact at that point, in July last year, Miss Lawson was already living in the Battersea house after leaving the home she shared with Mr Saatchi. Mr Gajjar said: ‘At some point she moved out of the residence.’

He did not explain why Miss Lawson had left the family home, nor for how long.

But he said that although the Battersea home – which is opposite a townhouse owned by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow and his wife Sally – was Miss Lawson’s, Mr Saatchi paid the council tax as well as the water, gas and electricity bills.

Claims: TV cook Nigella Lawson has faced court claims that she took drugs. However, jurors were told this afternoon that the case before them is about fraud

Revelation: It emerged in court that the marriage may have been troubled long before it ended

Lisa Grillo ultimately turned down the option of moving in with her sister and Miss Lawson in Battersea, and as the dispute with the celebrity couple turned into a criminal prosecution, Francesca moved out of the property.The Grillo sisters are now living together in a property in central London.

Miss Lawson meanwhile evidently moved back into the family home with Mr Saatchi – although the house is so enormous that she and Mr Saatchi had large separate offices and rooms, with their three children also having their own kitchenettes.

Miss Lawson finally left for good in June this year after the furore over the shocking photographs of her husband ‘throttling’ her broke out.

She now lives with her two teenage children in a mews house in central London.

Credit card spending: Charles Saatchi, 70, arrives at Isleworth Crown Court where he will tomorrow give evidence against his two former PAs who are accused of spending £685,000

Credit card spending: Charles Saatchi, 70, arrives at Isleworth Crown Court where he will give evidence against his two former PAs who are accused of spending £685,000