Restaurateur admits spiking woman’s drink to ‘relax’ her at London club

A Knightsbridge restaurateur was caught red-handed spiking a woman’s drink with a date rape drug at exclusive private members club Annabel’s, a court heard.

Vikas Nath, 63, used a straw to put gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) into the woman’s spicy margarita drink as they sat at the rooftop garden bar of the Mayfair club.

Southwark Crown Court heard that staff at Annabel’s noticed Nath had dipped the straw into a small bottle of Madagascar vanilla extract from his pocket to suck up the liquid before pouring it into the margarita.

The court heard staff managed to replace the drugged drink with a fresh one before the woman drank it, and Nath threw the GBL bottle into the toilet cistern while police were on their way.

Nath, who has a portfolio of top restaurants in the UK and Spain, including two Michelin-starred restaurants, admitted spiking the drink with alcohol but said it was to “comfort” the woman rather than as part of a plan to have sex with her.

Jurors were told there was a camera in the bedroom of Nath’s Knightsbridge home, which was activated by a motion sensor and images were automatically recorded and stored.

He admits to using it in the past to “secretly” record sexual activity.

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Prosecutor Tim Clark KC said Nath had been messaging a friend before the spike incident on January 15, 2024, indicating he wanted to have sex with the woman and was “disappointed” it had not yet happened.

“This case is unusual because there is no dispute that Mr. Nath had his drink spiked,” Mr. Clark said.

“It’s no surprise he was admitted; he had little choice because the rise was recorded on Annabel’s CCTV.

“Due to the action of quick-thinking staff, the spiked drink was withdrawn and warned.

“Staff replaced it with a new one and police were called to the club.”

The court heard the woman invited Nath to Annabel’s, where she was a regular, and they went to the rooftop bar, where Nath ordered a spicy margarita. The woman got up from the table to show two friends around the club, and Mr Clark said two staff members later saw “pretty strange behaviour” from Nath, who was left alone with the group’s drinks.

“(They) watched Mr Nath put a straw into his drink and put his finger in the top of the glass,” the prosecutor said.

Staff saw a small bottle in Nath’s hand that he appeared to be “hiding” and then witnessed him place the straw into the bottle and it appeared to be “sucking liquid”.

“He then inserted the straw, put it into his drink, and removed his finger from the top; the carried liquid would mix into the drink.”

Staff alerted senior managers, who checked CCTV and warned the woman her drink might have been spiked, jurors heard.

While police were on their way, the woman returned to the table and a bar employee replaced the spiked margarita with a new one. Nath was told this was because it “tasted a bit watery.”

“Before the police arrived, Mr Nath clearly understood that he had been told,” Mr Clark said.

“He tried to hide the evidence of what he had done by going to the toilet and throwing that little bottle into the cistern, and when the police found the bottle it was floating around.”

The court heard traces of GBL were found on the bottle and two bottles of the drug were later found under the sink at his home.

In an interview with police, Nath said he took GBL as cleaning fluid for a high-performance car and that a friend told him it could be drunk with alcohol as a “relaxer”.

“He stated that he only spiked her drink to relax her,” Mr Clark said.

The prosecutor said Nath told officers at the time that he was suffering from a mental health issue and blamed it on his divorce from his wife.

The court heard he said he was not aware the GBL in his home was an illegal substance.

He claimed he flushed the bottle of vanilla extract down the toilet because he thought the club would disapprove of his activities.

Nath denies attempting to administer a substance with intent to possess a Class B drug.

The trial continues.