Minister challenged over Charles Saatchi caution

Charles Saatchi received a caution after voluntarily attending a police station in London. Picture: Reuters

• Home Office minister denies Charles Saatchi caution amounts to double standards

• Labour MP Sandra Osborne says incident is example of “one rule for the rich and famous, and another for everybody else”

Labour MP Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) questioned whether it was the “norm” for assaults in public to be punished in this way.

Speaking during women and equalities questions in the Commons, she said: “Only 6.5 per cent of domestic violence incidents recorded by the police result in conviction. What kind of message does it send if an alleged perpetrator can receive a caution in spite of extensive corroborative evidence?

“Is this the norm? If it is the norm, no wonder conviction rates are so low. Or is it a question of is there one rule for the rich and famous, and another for everybody else?”

Jeremy Browne responded: “There certainly isn’t one law for the rich and famous and another for everybody else and if anyone is under that impression, they are labouring under a misapprehension.

“I share your concern about domestic violence conviction rates, we want to see them increase. Sometimes it is difficult to get a conviction in those circumstances for reasons which will be obvious.

“But domestic violence is an extremely serious crime and although we have seen crime rates fall, we haven’t seen a marked fall in domestic violence rates - but that is something we quite welcome because it may actually suggest a higher reporting of domestic violence than previously existed.”

Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault on Monday after voluntarily attending Charing Cross police station after the Sunday People published photographs of him holding Lawson by the neck outside a Mayfair restaurant.

On Tuesday, he told London’s Evening Standard: “Although Nigella made no complaint, I volunteered to go to Charing Cross 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.”

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police refused to name him, but said: “Officers from the community safety unit at Westminster were aware of the Sunday People article which was published on Sunday June 16 and carried out an investigation.

“(On) Monday June 17, a 70-year-old man voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted a caution for assault.”