A pair of honeytrap killers who drugged men seeking escort services to steal from them have been jailed for 17 years after two victims died.

Adina Mihai, 31, posed as a sex worker and arranged to meet men at their homes in an organised operation with her partner Madalin Dumitru, 30.

Between August 2024 and July 2025, Mihai would ply the men with alcohol spiked with date-rape drug gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) before searching their home for cash, jewellery and watches to steal while Dumitru waited in a car nearby, a court heard.

However Malcolm King, 80, died after the encounter in Bagendon, Gloucestershire, in August 2024. At first, Gloucestershire Police treated his death as non-suspicious because he had a pre-existing heart condition.

But the case was re-opened after Thames Valley Police discovered father of one Gary Mouat, 37, had been poisoned with the drug when he died in similar circumstances in Banbury, Oxfordshire, almost a year later.

The Romanian couple had been due to stand trial at Oxford Crown Court this summer but admitted to two counts of manslaughter on the second day of the hearing. They also pleaded guilty to poisoning two other men with GBL in July 2025, who survived.

Police have said they are “keeping an open mind about the possibility” that other victims were targeted by the pair.

Jailing them on Thursday, judge Mrs Justice Brunner KC said the couple had formed a joint plan to “covertly drug the men” but accepted that they did not know that anyone had died as they continued their scam.

“However, if you had stopped for a moment to consider the risks, as you should have done, you would have realised that you were creating a high risk of serious injury or death every time you administered that drug,” she said. “If you had done the most cursory research you would know that GBL can be extremely toxic.”

She added: “You left each victim alone in a state of deep unconsciousness and a moment’s thought could and should have led to the realisation that they might never come around.”

Mihai, wearing a polkadot dress, wiped away tears as the judge addressed her. Dumitru appeared wearing a pale blue tracksuit.

Prosecutor Julian Evans KC told the court Mihai advertised escort and massage services on the Vivastreet website.

Once victims made contact, Dumitru would drive Mihai to their home and give them alcohol laced with GBL, which rapidly converts to a powerful sedative once in the body. After scouring the property for items to steal, the pair would leave the men unconscious and alone in their homes.

“Put simply, the defendants were willing to act in this way out of greed,” Mr Evans told the court. “Together, they no doubt drew comfort from the shared belief that they could proceed with their obviously criminal activity safe in the knowledge that their victims were highly unlikely to report what had happened to them to the police.

“That confidence drew upon the obviously sensitive and embarrassing nature of the activity each victim believed they had agreed to. Namely, meeting a stranger at their home for the purposes of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money.”

The killers both sobbed in the dock as their victim’s family members read out moving personal statements.

In a pre-recorded message played to court Mr Mouat’s son, aged nine, asked them: “Why did you have to kill my daddy, you could have just taken the money, he was really kind, he would have given it to you. He was my daddy and now he's gone.”

His mother, Mr Mouat’s wife Louise, paid tribute to her late husband as a “friendly, funny and kind man” with a “huge personality”.

“You’ve destroyed my present and taken away my future,” she told the killers. “You’ve taken away the plan for Gary and me to grow our family.”

The court heard Mr Mouat had made contact with Mihai through her Vivastreet account on 12 July 2025, while his wife and son were away for the weekend.

In messages sent while waiting in a car outside Mr Mouat’s home that night, Dumitru told Mihai to put the victim “to sleep”, Mr Evans said. He later told her see if he had a watch or any jewellery, as well as cash.

Mr Mouat was found dead the following day by two friends who went to check on him.

The court heard that Mr King, a wealthy man who wore a valuable 18ct gold Rolex Oyster watch, had made contact with Mihai’s Vivastreet account on the morning of 20 August 2024. CCTV footage shows the parking near his house that evening, before Mihai entered the property.

Data from the 80-year-old’s pacemaker show he died around an hour after the couple left the area, having stolen his watch. He was found dead by his housekeeper the following morning and Mihai’s DNA was found on one of two wine glasses left at the scene.

In a tearful statement, his daughter Caroline King told the court that she had not always had an easy relationship with her father.

“The defendants did not simply unlawfully take my father's life,” she said. “They stole the future that both he and I still had the possibility of writing together.

“They took away every conversation we will now never have, every opportunity to understand one another and every chance to make peace with our past.

“I do not know whether reconciliation would ever have happened. The hardest part is that I will never be allowed to find out.”

Mr King’s sister, Jacky Seagroatt, said she is haunted by the way in which he died.

“Nothing that happens in this courtroom can bring my brother back,” she said. “Nothing can replace the love, generosity and loyalty he so freely gave to me, to our family and to so many others.

“I ask only that the devastating consequences of these offences are fully recognised. Malcolm’s life mattered. He was loved. His death has left a wound in our family that will never heal. I will carry the pain of losing my brother for the rest of my life.”

Mihai took another Rolex, worth up to £14,500, from another victim who survived the drugging, the court heard. She stole some jewellery, aftershave and documents from a fourth surviving victim.

In mitigation, Mihai’s lawyer told the court she “did not realise that GBL could cause the harm that it did” until she was told of the two men’s deaths.

“She asked me to relay to the court her shock, shame and sorrow for the terrible harm that has been caused,” Elouise Marshall KC said.

Gurdeep Garcha KC, for Dumitru, said the defendant had shown “genuine remorse” and taken responsibility for his actions, adding that the impact on Mr Mouat’s son had “particular resonance” because he is a father to three children aged 13, 11 and six.

“He has asked me to publically express his deep regret at what he has done and he would wish, through me, to unconditionally apologise to all of the families of the victims and everybody affected,” he said.

Thames Valley Police senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Michael Roddy previously said it had been an “extremely complex and resource‑intensive investigation”.

The police officer added: “Adina Mihai and Madalin Dumitru used drugs to incapacitate men who had been seeking sexual services, before stealing from them.

“For Gary Mouat, these actions had fatal consequences so I am pleased to have got answers for his family and would like to thank them for their support throughout our investigation.”

Gloucestershire Constabulary’s senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, said: “Tragically for Mr King, Mihai and Dumitru’s callous and calculated actions had fatal consequences.

“The tireless work of all those involved in the joint investigation left Mihai and Dumitru with little choice but to plead guilty to manslaughter and administering poison in the face of overwhelming evidence.”

More follows on this breaking news story...