Indian-Origin Restaurateur Vikas Nath Convicted for Spiking Woman’s Drink at London Club

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Indian-origin restaurateur Vikas Nath, 63, has been convicted by a London court for spiking a woman’s drink with a date-rape drug at the exclusive Mayfair private members’ club Annabel’s on January 15, 2024. A jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of attempting to administer a substance with intent and possessing a Class B drug after he laced a cocktail with gamma-butyrolactone (GBL).

As per court proceedings, the incident took place on January 15, 2024, at Annabel’s rooftop garden bar. According to evidence cited by the BBC, Nath was seen dipping a straw into a small bottle disguised as Madagascan vanilla extract and transferring liquid into the woman’s spicy margarita. Club staff noticed his actions and immediately intervened, replacing the drink before it could be consumed.

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The woman told the court that she felt “betrayed” by Nath. She said he had warned her and her friend about drink spiking days before the incident, recalling, “I remember him forewarning my friend and me about drinks being spiked.” She added that she had met Nath “roughly six times” before the incident, mostly for lunches at venues including the Beaverbrook Town House hotel and Nath’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Benares.

She told the court that Nath had an unusual habit of testing drinks with a straw, saying, “I always found it quite strange, he would put a little straw in to try it,” and adding, “I became acclimatised to seeing him doing it.” She also said that their relationship had never been sexual and that she had always felt safe around him.

On the night of the incident, staff members warned her that her drink may have been tampered with, she told the court. She initially refused to believe it. “I remember vividly defending Mr Nath, saying, ‘There is no way he could do that’,” she said. She later said she felt deeply hurt after learning the truth.

Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told the court that Nath had tried to dispose of evidence after realising he had been “rumbled.” “They watched Nath put a straw into her drink, sticking his finger over the top,” he said. He added that Nath went to the lavatory and threw the bottle into the cistern before police arrived.

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After Nath’s arrest, police searched his Knightsbridge home and recovered two bottles of GBL along with a motion sensor-activated covert camera positioned towards his bed. Prosecutors said the items supported their claim that Nath intended to exploit drugged women. CCTV footage from Annabel’s also captured his actions at the table.

Nath admitted spiking the drink without the woman’s consent but denied trying to sexually assault her. He claimed he had only wanted to “relax” her and said he had previously used GBL himself. He told police that he had bought the substance as a cleaning fluid for car wheel rims and did not know it was illegal. The jury rejected his explanation and found him guilty.

Nath, the owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Benares and several high-end restaurants in the UK and Spain, remains in custody and is awaiting sentencing.

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