The Indian-origin owner of a Michelin star restaurant in London has admitted to spiking a woman’s drink at an affluent Mayfair club. Vikas Nath, 63, is accused of putting gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) in a woman’s margarita drink on January 15, 2024.
The spiking occurred while Nath and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sitting in the rooftop garden bar at Mayfair’s private members’ club Annabel’s.
Nath is a director of the Michelin-starred Benares restaurant in Mayfair, which is one of London’s most prestigious pin codes. He also has a portfolio of restaurants in the UK and Spain, according to a BBC report.
Indian-origin millionaire admits to spiking
The Indian-origin millionaire admitted to spiking the drink with the date-rape drug GBL (gamma-butyrolactone), but said it was to help the woman “relax” rather than to have sex with her.
Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) is a colourless industrial solvent that, when ingested, is rapidly converted by the body into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB). This conversion can cause effects ranging from drowsiness to memory loss, unconsciousness and, in severe cases, dangerous respiratory depression.
“This case is unusual because there’s no dispute Mr Nath spiked her drink,” Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told the court. “His acceptance is not surprising, he had little choice because the spiking was captured on CCTV at Annabel’s.”
The victim told jurors at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday that she had been “betrayed” by Nath.
How Vikas Nath was caught
The court previously heard that on January 15, 2024, staff at Annabel’s noticed Nath dipping a straw into a bottle of vanilla extract to suck up liquid before transferring it to the margarita. Nath had retrieved the bottle of Madagascan vanilla extract from his pocket before using the straw to transfer the liquid into the woman’s drink.
The staff managed to switch drinks before the woman drank. Nath threw the bottle of vanilla extract, which actually contained GBL, into the toilet before police arrived.
The woman, who said she had been an Annabel’s member since the age of 18, said that a staff member warned her about possible drink tampering. “They advised me that they were concerned that he put something in it,” she told the court.
What the woman said about Nath
The woman says she initially did not believe that Nath would spike her drink.
She told the court: “I remember vividly defending Mr Nath, saying ‘There is no way he could do that’.
“I remember sending him a message saying ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s happening’. Because I felt it was my fault.
“I didn’t want him in trouble, I didn’t believe it.”
The woman told the court she met Nath during a difficult period in her life, as she was going through a divorce and experiencing “a bit of turmoil in my family”, including a “very big falling out with my father”.
Recounting their first meeting, she said Nath had “kindly invited” her for a drink and appeared “genuinely concerned” about her wellbeing and where she would be living.
The woman said Nath “always paid” for their lunches and described him as “very generous”, adding that she did not work at the time.
Speaking about their relationship, she told the court: “He came across as he cared for me and it was nice. I never thought he would have made a physical move on me so I felt safe with him.”
Nath told friend he was ‘frustrated’
Despite his insistence that he did not spike the drink to rape the woman, Prosecutor Clark said Nath had exchanged text messages with a friend before the spiking incident in which he expressed a desire to have sex with the woman and said he was “frustrated” that it had not yet happened.
Jurors were also told that Nath had installed a motion-activated camera in the bedroom of his Knightsbridge home, which automatically recorded and stored footage. He admitted that he had previously used the device to “covertly” record sexual activity.
