A Michelin-starred restaurant owner plied a woman’s drink with a date-rape drug at an exclusive private members’ club because he did not have the ‘patience’ to ‘seduce her’, a court heard.
Vikas Nath, 63, is accused of using a straw to put gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) into the woman’s spicy margarita drink while sitting in the rooftop garden bar of Annabel’s, a club in London’s Mayfair.
But vigilant bar staff at the celebrity hangout spotted Nath dipping the straw into a small Madagascan vanilla extract bottle he had retrieved from his pocket, to suck up liquid before transferring it to the margarita.
They managed to switch the drugged drink for a fresh one before the woman drank from it and Nath threw the bottle of GBL into a toilet cistern when police were on the way, the court heard.
Nath, who has a portfolio of top restaurants in the UK and Spain, including two with Michelin stars, admits spiking the drink, but says it was to ‘relax’ the woman rather than as part of a plan to have sex with her.
But prosecutor Tim Clark KC told jurors at Southwark Crown Court it was because Nath was ‘impatient with lack of progress’ and wanted to sleep with her and not ‘hold hands’.
Mr Clark added there was evidence to show Nath ‘wanted to have sex at his house where there was a camera and it could record it’. Jurors were told Nath had a camera in the bedroom of his home in Knightsbridge, which was activated by motion sensor.
He admits using it in the past to ‘covertly’ record sexual activity.
Nath had also exchanged texts with a friend before the spiking incident, which happened on January 15, 2024, showing he wanted to have sex with the woman and was ‘frustrated’ it had not yet happened.
‘This case is unusual because there’s no dispute Mr Nath spiked her drink,’ said Mr Clark.
‘His acceptance is not surprising, he had little choice because the spiking was captured on CCTV at Annabel’s. Due to the actions of quick-thinking staff, the spiked drink was retrieved, and (she) was warned.’
The court heard Nath messaged a friend on the day, writing: ‘I’m at Annabel’s. This is probably the last evening with (her). She ain’t biting.’ The friend then replied: ‘Action time I hope.’
In November 2023, Nath told his friend ‘I want to get laid, not hold hands’. Nath also told his friend he would need to do ‘old-fashioned seduction… the issue is do I have the patience for it’.
He told officers he had been suffering from a breakdown at the time. Nath denies attempting to administer a substance with intent and possession of a Class B drug.
The trial continues.
