Prominent restaurateur Vikas Nath is facing trial for allegedly attempting to spike a woman’s drink at London’s exclusive members’ club Annabel’s.
A celebrated London restaurateur is on trial after allegedly being caught in the act of spiking a woman’s drink at one of the capital’s most exclusive private clubs. The incident, which took place at Annabel’s in Mayfair in January 2024, has shocked London’s dining and social circles.
Alleged spiking at Mayfair venue
Prosecutors told Southwark Crown Court that 63-year-old Vikas Nath was seen by staff at Annabel’s transferring a liquid from a small bottle, marked as vanilla extract, into a woman’s margarita. The event occurred on 15 January last year. Employees grew suspicious of Nath’s movements and decided to quietly replace the drink before the woman returned to the table, preventing her from consuming it.
When police were called, they later discovered traces of gamma butyrolactone, or GBL, in the seized bottle. Nath now faces charges of attempting to administer a substance with intent and possessing a Class B drug. He admits spiking the drink but claims he meant only to calm the woman rather than harm her or coerce her into sex.
Evidence and past conduct
Prosecutor Tim Clark KC revealed to the court that the spiking was caught on Annabel’s internal cameras, leaving little room for denial. Text messages from Nath to a friend suggested he wanted to be intimate with the woman and expressed frustration that it had not happened. The court also heard that Nath had installed a motion-activated recording device in his Knightsbridge home, which automatically filmed activity in a bedroom. He admitted using it previously to secretly record sexual encounters.
Concealing the bottle and police discovery
According to the prosecution, Nath hid the bottle containing the drug in a toilet cistern while waiting for officers to arrive. Police recovered it soon after. Searches at his home led to the discovery of two more bottles of the same chemical under a kitchen sink.
Defence and explanation
During questioning, Nath told police that the substance had been given to him by a friend as a cleaning liquid for performance cars, who had also mentioned that it could be consumed with alcohol to help a person unwind. He maintained that he was unaware it was illegal to possess GBL.
Ongoing proceedings
The woman, who had invited Nath to Annabel’s as her guest, had left briefly to show friends around when the incident took place. Staff, noticing his suspicious behaviour, intervened swiftly and called police. The trial at Southwark Crown Court continues.
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