British woman faces three years in prison over bizarre wine heist compared to 'Scooby Doo episode'

A British woman has been jailed after she committed a bizarre wine heist compared to an "episode of Scooby Doo".

Natali Ray, 57, originally from Leicester, alongside her alleged accomplice, Nikola Krndija, 57, has been sentenced to 12 months by a court in Clarke County Virginia after confessing to charges of grand larceny, possession of burglary tools and defrauding a restaurant or inn.

Ray gave a false name, used disguises and an overcoat with secret compartments as part of her plot to steal thousands of dollars worth of wine from L’Auberge Provençale inn and restaurant, located in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

Ray committed the robbery last November, when her and her alleged partner in crime, Krndija, a Serbian national, arrived at the restaurant located roughly 60 miles away from the US capital.

Pretending to be the assistant of a wealthy businessman, Ray wore a wig and gave a false name, telling the restaurant owners her boss wanted to book a dinner at the dining establishing for 25 people, hoping to spend $20,000 (£15,000).

After asking if the restaurant's cellar was temperature controlled, the disguised pair descended down to the basement where Ray distracted the wine director, Christian Borel.

Meanwhile, Krndija allegedly stole four bottles of wine, one of which being a $24,000 (£18,000) 2020 Romanée-Conti Burgundy.

CCTV from the cellar shows a man, allegedly Krndija stashing the expensive bottles in his coat pocket.

The man in the video, allegedly Krndija, who remains at large after boarding a flight to Vienna from New York the day after the theft, replaced the pocketed expensive bottles, with cheap decoy ones.

However, Mr Borel noticed the switch and altered staff, with a waiter tackling Ray in the restaurant's car park whilst her accomplice fled the scene.

Two of the stolen bottles were recovered outside the restaurant, but the four most valuable remained missing.

However, two bottles, including the £18,000 Romanée-Conti, were returned five months later when they were delivered to Ray's defence lawyer's office by an unidentified man described as having an Eastern European accent, who police believe may have been Krndija.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Iranian man suspected of facilitating smuggling of 19 illegal migrants into Britain arrested
• Police investigating 'two cases of child sexual abuse' following release of Epstein files
• Northern Irish woman convicted for fraudulently claiming £35,000 in benefits

Prosecutors in the US sought a three-year prison sentence for Ray, arguing the theft had been meticulously planned, but she is expected to receive credit for around six months already served in custody.

MORE TO FOLLOW...