A couple who drugged men seeking sexual services in order to steal from them have been jailed for killing two men and poisoning others.

Adina Mihai and Madalin Dumitru admitted the manslaughter of Gary Mouat, 37, from Oxfordshire, and Malcolm King, 80, from Gloucestershire, in 2025 and 2024 respectively.

The pair also each admitted two further counts of administering poison to surviving victims on the first day of their trial in June.

Mihai, 31, and Dumitru, 30, were both sentenced to 17 years in prison at Oxford Crown Court.

Mihai, who posed as a sex worker, and her partner Dumitru, arranged to meet men paying for services she had advertised online at their homes.

The court heard four had their alcoholic drinks spiked with the powerful sedative gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) so the pair could steal from them.

Two men died as a result, while two others – who cannot be named due to reporting restrictions – survived.

Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, said Dumitru would drop Mihai at the victim’s home and wait nearby, apparently armed with weapons in case of trouble.

After encouraging the victim to drink the alcohol laced with GBL, Mihai would wait until they fell unconscious, before looking for property to steal, such as cash, aftershave, jewellery and expensive watches, Evans said.

He said the defendants, who previously lived in Birmingham before moving to Ilford, were “willing to act in this way out of greed”.

Sentencing, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said the amount of GBL, commonly referred to as a date rape drug, given to the pair’s victims was “haphazard”,

She told them: “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.

“If you had done the most cursory research you would know that GBL can be extremely toxic.”

The judge 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 round.”

The court heard Mihai first came to the UK from Romania to work in the sex trade, before leaving and returning again in 2023.

She advertised her sexual services on the online site VivaStreet, and would take cash deposits from victims ahead of meeting up.

Malcolm King had long-term heart conditions and was fitted with a pacemaker, and his death in August 2024 was initially treated as non-suspicious.

But after Gary Mouat died nearly a year later, detectives revisited the first case.

Jewellery, aftershave and a Rolex watch were also stolen from two further victims who subsequently contacted the police.

The couple were arrested when officers stopped a BMW with Dumitru driving and Mihai the front seat passenger.

Items belonging to some of the victims were recovered from the car, and Mihai’s fingerprints were found on the wine glasses left behind in the men’s homes.

A video statement made by Gary Mouat’s eight-year-old son was played during the sentencing hearing.

He said: “My daddy was funny, silly, loving and a trickster, we always used to prank each other.

“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.

“Ever since my dad died my life has been really tough. I miss him every day and will never get to see him again.”

Jacky Seagroatt, Malcolm King’s younger sister, said losing her brother had “devastated” her.

“He was not just my brother – he was someone I loved deeply and someone there for me when I need him most.”

“The knowledge that two people have admitted responsibility for unlawfully killing my brother has brought some relief… however, it has not brought peace.

“What makes that even harder to bear is that Malcolm’s wife, who loved him dearly, did not live long enough to see justice finally being done for him.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X, external to get the latest alerts.