A tearful admission was made by a restaurant owner in court concerning the act of spiking a woman’s drink at an exclusive celebrity club. Vikas Nath, aged 63, was accused of adding gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) to the woman’s spicy margarita using a straw while at the rooftop garden bar of the Mayfair club on January 15, 2024. Nath, known for owning top restaurants in Britain and Spain, including two with Michelin stars, confessed to spiking the drink. However, he claimed it was to help the woman relax rather than with any sexual intentions, according to prosecutors.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Nath, from Knightsbridge, west London, emotionally expressed his regret, saying, “What I did was wrong, and I regret it very deeply.” Despite admitting to spiking the drink, he denied intending to incapacitate the woman. Nath explained that he believed the substance, which he mistook for cleaning fluid, would calm the woman when mixed with tequila and added to her drink.
Nath clarified that his motive was to ease the woman’s anxiety and help her calm down, as he perceived her behavior as erratic. He emphasized that his actions were not driven by any sexual motives. Nath disclosed to the jury that he had previously consumed the substance a few times to enhance the effects of alcohol and had taken a sip of it before entering Annabel’s.
The woman and Nath had met several times before the incident on January 15, 2024, often having lunch at establishments such as the Beaverbrook Town House five-star hotel and Nath’s Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant, Benares.
Under questioning from prosecutor Tim Clark, Nath acknowledged the growing concern of drink spiking among women in London. He admitted being caught “red-handed” but refuted any sexual intentions. Nath informed the court that he had purchased the substance as a cleaning fluid for his BMW i8 car in 2016 and was later advised by a friend that it could be consumed with alcohol for relaxation purposes.
Despite not being aware of the nature of the drug, Nath was observed by staff at Annabel’s on January 15, using a straw to transfer liquid from a small bottle of Madagascan vanilla extract to the margarita. Staff intervened by replacing the drugged drink with a fresh one before the woman consumed it, and Nath disposed of the GBL bottle in a toilet cistern upon learning that the police were on their way. Nath denies charges of attempting to administer a substance with intent and possession of a Class B drug. The trial is ongoing.
