Restaurateur who spiked woman's drink 'was wrong'

A restaurateur accused of spiking a woman's drink with a date-rape drug at an exclusive private members' club in central London has told a jury that putting a substance in her drink was "wrong".

Vikas Nath, 63, used a straw to put gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) into the woman's drink while she was at Annabel's, a club in Mayfair on 15 January 2024, a trial at Southwark Crown Court was told.

Nath, who has a portfolio of restaurants, including two with Michelin stars, admitted spiking the drink, but said it was to "relax" the woman rather than as part of a plan to have sex with her, prosecutors said.

Nath denied attempting to administer a substance with intent and possession of a Class B drug.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Nath, of Knightsbridge, west London, told jurors: "What I did was wrong and I regret it very deeply."

He denied that his intention was to "stupefy and overpower" the woman.

The defendant said that he had mixed the substance, which he thought was cleaning fluid, with tequila and that he had put it in the woman's drink to "calm" her, the court heard.

He said that the woman had been "erratic", adding that he intended for her to be "less anxious and for her to calm down a little bit".

Nath told jurors that he had himself consumed the substance a few times before that night as it heightened the effects of alcohol.

He also took a "swig" of it before entering Annabel's, the court heard.

The woman and Nath met a few times before the events of 15 January 2024, often for lunch, the court heard.

Jurors previously heard that the defendant said in a police interview that he had bought the substance as a cleaning fluid for his BMW i8 car in about 2016, and had been told by a friend it could also be drunk with alcohol as a "relaxant".

He told officers that he was not aware what the drug was, the court heard.

Jurors previously heard staff at Annabel's noticed Nath dipping a straw into a small Madagascan vanilla extract bottle he had retrieved from his pocket, to suck up liquid before transferring it to the woman's drink.

Staff switched 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.

The trial continues.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]