A couple who used a honeytrap scheme to rob men after drugging them — killing two victims and poisoning two others — have each been jailed for 17 years.
Adina Mihai, 31, and her partner, Madalin Dumitru, 30, targeted men who believed they were paying for sexual encounters, arranging to meet them inside their homes.
Oxford Crown Court was told the pair spiked glasses of wine with gamma-butyrolactone, known as GBL, a powerful sedative, leaving four men drugged.
Two of the victims, 80-year-old Malcolm King, from Gloucestershire, and Gary Mouat, 36, from Oxfordshire, died after taking fatal doses of the drug in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
In June, Mihai and Dumitru admitted two counts of manslaughter and two further charges of administering poison to victims who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Sentencing the couple on Thursday, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said: ‘Your joint intention was to incapacitate each victim making them deeply unconscious.
‘The administration of the drug was haphazard and depended on the strength of each batch, the amount put into drinks, and the amount they drunk.
‘This did not involve the administration of a fixed dose. I find that you were not aware of the deaths of any of your victims before administering the drugs to other victims.
Adina Mihai, 31, and her partner Madalin Dumitru, 30, have been sentenced to 17 years in jail over the fatal poisoning of two men in 2024 and 2025
Footage from Mihai’s arrest is pictured. She posed as an escort to gain access to wealthy men
Mr King, a property magnate who was known as one of the world’s biggest game hunters, died a short time after inviting Mihai into his £4million Cotswold mansion
CCTV footage of the couple buying wine at a Morrison’s petrol station is pictured
‘You intended to render your victims deeply unconscious.
‘If you had stopped for a moment to consider the risks, as you should have done, you would have realised that it carried a high risk of serious injury or death at the very moment you administered that drug.
‘If you had done the most cursory research, you would know that GBL can be extremely toxic. You both could and should have researched open sources.’
The court heard Mihai had been abandoned as a child and raised her young brother. She also had symptoms of depression, generalised anxiety and PTSD.
But the judge said this didn’t lessen Mihai’s culpability, saying: ‘There is no clear link between these characteristics and your repeated offending behaviour.’
The pair will serve a two-year sentence for the poisoning charges concurrently.
They will be released from custody halfway through their prison sentences and will serve the remaining years on licence in the community.
Photos released by Thames Valley Police show items found in the couple’s car following their arrest, including bottles of alcohol and a Rolex watch.
Mihai used GBL to render her victims unconscious before calling her partner Dumitru (pictured) who waited outside victims’ homes while she was inside
Pictured is a grab from a video Mihai shared to Snapchat while travelling to a victim’s home
Madalin Dumitru – who was sentenced to 17 years behind bars today – is seen during his arrest
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, of Gloucestershire Police, said: ‘Adina Mihai and Madalin Dumitru targeted people for their belongings and drugged them in order to steal from them.
‘It was never the prosecution case that they intended to kill their victims but what was very apparent is that they had no regard at all for their safety, their well-being, their aftercare.
‘They no doubt exploited these men as vulnerable individuals in their positions. Their actions are inherently dangerous and I’m very glad that they can no longer carry on.’
The court previously heard that Mihai never provided any sexual services to her victims, but posed as a sex worker in order to gain access to wealthy businessmen.
She would determine whether her victims were wealthy before stealing watches, jewellery, aftershave and cash, the value of which is unknown.
Mr King, a property magnate and one of the world’s biggest game hunters, died a short time after inviting Mihai into his £4million Cotswold mansion.
The court heard the married businessman contacted Mihai on August 20, 2024, and arranged to meet her at his home that evening while his wife was away.
His body was discovered the following morning by his housekeeper, who also found an empty bottle of wine and two glasses.
Mr King had long-term heart conditions and had a pacemaker, with cardiologists able to determine the circumstances of his death after analysing the device.
The court heard that Mr Mouat’s wife and son were away for the night of July 12, 2025, and he contacted Mihai via Vivastreet, a classified advertising website.
Mihai and Dumitru then travelled from Ilford to Mr Mouat’s home.
The court heard that Mr Mouat’s wife and son were away for the night of July 12, 2025, and he contacted Mihai via Vivastreet, a classified advertising website
Mr Mouat drank wine laced with GBL and was left unconscious in his own home
The pair bought the pictured bottle of wine before driving to Gary Mouat’s home
The wine purchased at the petrol station is pictured
Mr Mouat drank wine laced with GBL and was left unconscious in his own home while Mihai searched for items to steal.
He was found the following morning on the floor of his lounge by family friends who grew concerned when he hadn’t been in contact with anyone since the previous day.
An open bottle of wine was found nearby with two wine glasses.
Hours after returning to Ilford from Mr Mouat’s home, a third man, known in court as ‘victim three’, contacted Mihai on Vivastreet.
The defendants arrived at his home at 2.45am on July 13, with Mihai bringing a bottle of wine purchased from a petrol station.
The court heard the man had paid Mihai £450, drank some of the wine, and after waking from unconsciousness found his ‘high-value Rolex watch’ was missing.
A week later, the fourth victim, known as ‘victim four’, contacted Mihai and she arranged to meet for £360.
Julian Evans KC said the Crown’s case was that the defendants did not intend to kill their victims but instead intended to cause harm by rendering them unconscious.
He told the court: ‘After contact was made through a website, and arrangements made by phone, Mihai and Dumitru drove to the home address of each victim.
‘While Dumitru waited nearby, Mihai would enter the victim’s home. There, she would persuade the victim to drink alcohol laced with GBL to render them unconscious.
‘Once the victim was unconscious, Mihai would look for property to steal. Then she would rejoin Dumitru, leaving the victim alone and unconscious.’
The prosecutor said the defendants ‘drew comfort’ from the shared belief that their victims were unlikely to report what had happened to them to the police.
Mr Mouat’s nine-year-old son, Alfie, told the court he would ‘never get over’ the death of his father, which had made him over-protective of his mother.
‘Ever since my dad died my life has been really tough. I miss him every day and will never get to see him again,’ he said in a recorded witness statement.
Items, including what appears to be a bottle of vodka, is seen in the couple’s car
Pictured is a Rolex watch found in the couple’s car after they were arrested
Mr King’s body was discovered the following morning by his housekeeper, who also found an empty bottle of wine and two wine glasses
‘You have ruined my life and all the plans we had to do things together. My family is destroyed now. I will never be able to go and watch a football game with my dad now.
‘I won’t get to go have my first beer with him. I don’t know what my life will be like now, I always imagined my dad would be here.’
Louise Mouat, 35, told the court she had to break the devastating news to her now nine-year-old son Alfie.
She told the defendants: ‘On July 13 last year our lives changed forever because of what you did.
‘I had to tell my eight-year-old son that his daddy had died.
‘Someone who should have been around to watch him grow up was gone.’
Mr King’s daughter, Caroline King, said his death has prevented their reconciliation following the end of his marriage to her mother.
‘My relationship with my father was never easy and there were periods when we had no contact at all,’ she told the court.
‘Despite everything, he was still my father. And despite everything, I never stopped hoping that one day we would find our way back to each other.
‘I believed there would be time. Time for difficult conversations. Time to understand each other. Time to forgive. Time to heal.
‘The defendants did not simply unlawfully take my father’s life. They stole the future that both he and I still had the possibility of writing together.’
