Adina Mihai, 31, posed as a sex worker, and her partner Madalin Dumitru, 30, helped set up a profile online to arrange meetings with men paying for sex in their homes.
Four were left unconscious when glasses of wine were spiked with the powerful sedative gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), a "date rape drug", so the two defendants could steal from them, a court heard.
But after secretly spiking their alcoholic drinks, two men collapsed and died nearly a year apart - one in Oxfordshire, the other some 40 miles away in Gloucestershire.
When police discovered the second victim had been poisoned, officers issued a national bulletin to all other forces to share the intelligence in case any other unexplained deaths in the country were linked.
At Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, Mihai and Dumitru were both sentenced to 17 years in prison.
The judge told the defendants their current release date is no less than two-thirds of their 17-year terms, but the 2026 Sentencing Act "would change that to no less than half".
In June, the pair pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Malcolm King, 80, in Bagendon, Gloucestershire, on 21 August 2024 and Gary Mouat, 37, in Banbury, Oxfordshire, on 13 July 2025.
Both defendants, who were from Romania, also admitted two further counts of administering poison.
'Administration of drug was haphazard', judge says
Jailing the pair, Mrs Justice Brunner 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. 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."
Read more from Sky News:
102-year-old man dies after alleged assault at pub
FIFA VP warns those trying to oust Gianni Infantino
Detectives urge further victims to come forward
Detectives believe there are further victims of the pair and have urged them to come forward.
Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, who led the investigation into Mr King's death for Gloucestershire Police, said: "We believe there are more men out there who may have encountered Mihai in similar circumstances, and who were drugged and had possessions stolen from them.
"I would urge these men to contact police and would like to reassure them that their report will be dealt with sensitively and discreetly."
Body found by housekeeper
Once medical experts revealed Mihai poisoned Mr Mouat, forensic links led Gloucestershire Constabulary to find Mr King had also been poisoned - after initially believing his death was not suspicious because of a pre-existing health condition.
The court heard Mr King, who was retired, wealthy and married, had made contact with Mihai on 20 August 2024 and arranged to meet her at his home that evening while his wife was out.
His body was found the following morning by his housekeeper, who also came across an empty bottle of wine and two glasses.
Mr King had long-term heart conditions and used a pacemaker. Cardiologists were able to determine the circumstances of his death after analysing the device.
Mihai left victim unconscious and looked for items to steal
The court also heard Mr Mouat's wife and son were away for the night of 12 July last year and he contacted Mihai via the online platform Vivastreet. They then travelled from Ilford to Mr Mouat's home.
Mr Mouat drank wine laced with GBL and Mihai left him unconscious, while she looked for items to steal from the house.
He was found the following morning lying on the floor of his lounge by family friends who had been concerned that he had not been in contact with anyone since the previous day.
Defendants performed different roles within their 'enterprise'
Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, said the defendants acted together to perform different roles within their "enterprise".
No sexual services were provided by Mihai to any of their victims, he added.
Mihai and Dumitru were arrested on 31 July last year and charged on 6 August last year following Mr Mouat's death.
'My family is destroyed'
Mr Mouat's nine-year-old son Alfie spoke of his devastating loss in a victim impact statement, which was recorded and played to the court.
"My dad was funny, silly, loving and a trickster, we always used to prank each other," Alfie, who is an only child, said.
"You have ruined my life and all the plans we had to do things together. My family is destroyed now."
Mr Mouat's wife Louise said: "On 13 July 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.
"I will never forget the scream that came from him when he realised his daddy was gone forever.
"He dropped to the floor and begged me to say it wasn't true. We drove back holding hands the whole way home."
Mike Huckabee's post on X was an unusually strong rebuke from a US official, even as he defended the Israeli military's response.
Since Sunday, settlers have gathered near the home in the village of Qusra and harassed those inside, defying efforts by the Israeli military to defuse the situation, according to local officials and family members.
A group that has included up to dozens of men has thrown stones, attempted to bring down a nearby stone wall, and stopped occupants from leaving despite dwindling supplies.
Israel's military said on Thursday it had sent more troops to the village and is trying to disperse the settlers from the area, a day after a failed attempt that saw soldiers deploying tear gas.
Mr Huckabee, who was named US ambassador to Israel last year, called the siege a "horrific act of terror".
He said: "The actions of those doing this to this family's home is criminal. The WH hasn't 'intervened' because we have kept DC apprised of the situation already.
"Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting. No excuse for such thuggish behavior [sic]."
He also said that "the IDF & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this". He later posted a video that he claimed was evidence of their intervention.
The home's owner Lou Ridi said his 48-year-old brother and nephew, who have stayed to defend the property, had been unable to leave it, and did not have access to food or water for several days.
On Thursday morning, the owner's brother, Qusai Abu Rida, said he and his teenage son had been evacuated from the area by Israel's military. It was unclear what would happen to the home, and at least one other that has been targeted.
Mr Ridi said settlers have been harassing his home for months before the situation escalated in recent days.
He said they had cut off the water and electricity to his house and thrown stones, causing damage to the property as well as at least one more house in the area.
"We are prisoners in our own house, hostages in our own house," he said.
Mr Huckabee has been an ally of Israel's settler movement and in the past expressed support for Israeli control over the occupied West Bank while condemning settler violence.
Read more from Sky News:
Britain could halt overlooked war
FIFA VP warning over Infantino
The IDF is facing growing pressure to halt rogue land seizures by settlers, who appeared to be emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government, which has spearheaded a rapid expansion of settlements in the territory.
Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse the Netanyahu administration of turning a blind eye to attacks.
The military, in a statement late on Tuesday, described the Qusra outpost as "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable activity that harms the residents of the areas and disrupts their daily lives".
In recent days, Israeli troops have intervened to try to restore order.
The military said that overnight on Thursday its troops had dismantled "two illegal outposts" on the outskirts of Qusra and a nearby village, and detained one Israeli.
It said that additional soldiers had pushed into the area, which is about 10 miles (16km) from the Palestinian city of Nablus, to "carry out defensive missions and patrols".
Journalists on the outskirts of Qusra said roads into the village were closed.
When troops deployed to the area to disperse the settlers on Wednesday morning, there were clashes and tear gas was used, video footage appeared to show.
The army removed the cover of one of the outpost's tents and then withdrew from the area, after which the settlers tried to break the gate to one of the Palestinian homes, witnesses said.
The military said that border police forces "evacuated the tent and are working to evacuate the civilians who were staying there," referring to settlers, and noting that the situation is ongoing.
Last month, a mosque in Qusra was set ablaze in another apparent settler attack. That followed the killing of an Israeli settler, sparking violence that left two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinian villagers dead.
Traditionally, a big part of this sort of article - getting behind the data on exam results - would have focused on trying to understand the inevitable fact that girls perform better than boys in the education system.
The Education Committee even launched an inquiry into the phenomenon two years ago. That summer, girls outperformed boys, in terms of getting As or A*s in their A-levels, by more than 10 percentage points.
Last year, boys closed the gap, narrowly overtaking girls for the first time on record. This year, they widened it. Boys continued to improve, while girls continued to do worse.
Girls are still more likely to do A-levels than boys, and more likely to go on to university. That gap has remained relatively static in the 10 years for which we have data, although it is technically closer this year than it has been before.
The pattern is repeated across all ethnicities, but the gap is noticeably closer among Asian boys and girls compared with those from a white or black background.
The gap is larger for boys from a more deprived background, however. Girls from the most deprived parts of the country are almost 50% more likely to go to university than boys with the same background.
So there are about six girls from deprived areas at university for every four boys from similar places. The ratio halves when you get to people from the least deprived areas, so there are more like five boys for every six girls.
People from the least deprived places are still almost twice as likely to go to university compared with those from the most deprived areas, however.
People studying at fee-paying schools were almost twice as likely to secure top grades at A-level compared with those from state-funded schools.
Do boys pick easier subjects?
There are massive differences in terms of which subjects are favoured by girls or boys. Almost three times as many boys picked to study further maths at A-level compared with girls, for example. For English language, the ratios are reversed.
The differences among smaller subjects - electronics, in favour of boys, and health & social care, for girls - are even more pronounced. Eighteen girls take the health & social care (double award) A-level for every one boy.
Further maths might not be typically understood as a soft or easy subject, but almost six in 10 people studying it get As or A*s.
That's more than double the average for all subjects, and top out of all 24 courses, with more than 7,500 people studying them.
For English language students, in comparison, one of the courses most favoured by girls, just over one in 10 pupils get a top grade.
That's the lowest rate of all the most popular subjects, although girls do slightly outperform the few boys who do take it.
Are boys more likely to take technical qualifications?
New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said that he wants Britain to "value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap", putting technical education on equal footing with the traditional academic path in the education system.
Part of the reason for this focus is to respond to the number of 16-24 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (known as NEETs).
There were more than a million as of the latest data from May 2026, and young men have been more likely to be NEET than young women since the COVID pandemic.
The previous government attempted to move focus towards technical training with the introduction of T-levels, launched in 2020.
They are described as being equivalent to three A-levels, taken over two years after GCSEs, in the same way that A-levels are. A key part of the qualification is that students partake in at least 45 days of work in industry.
T-level take-up had been slow initially, not helped by the fact that the introduction coincided with COVID, when the ability to secure on-the-job experience became significantly more difficult in many sectors.
Encouragingly, the number of people getting results for T-levels today is 65% higher than last year. The overall numbers remain relatively low, however.
There were 19,665 T-level results compared with more than 900,000 A-levels. Even accounting for the fact that each T-evel is equivalent to three A-levels, this is still a massive gap.
The gender split is only slightly in favour of boys, but this is notable given that the alternative - A-levels - skews so heavily towards girls.
Again, some subjects heavily favour girls over boys, and vice-versa. Education and early years is the most popular T-level, with 3,780 people taking it - 3,614 girls but just 157 boys.
Among the 1,649 people taking design and development for engineering and manafacturing, 1,504 were boys.
There were also more than 300,000 vocational and technical qualifications delivered this year. The gender splits for these are not available.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Emergency crews were called to Elliot Industrial Estate in Arbroath at about 12.02am on Monday 3 August, where Minnie Merriman was found seriously injured.
The schoolgirl was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where she later died.
Her father, Christopher Rice, 35, was arrested and charged in connection with her death.
Rice first appeared before Forfar Sheriff Court last Wednesday, where he made no plea to the single charge of murder.
The suspect, of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, returned to court on Thursday for a second private hearing.
He once again made no plea to the charge and was remanded in custody ahead of his next court appearance, which is yet to be confirmed.
Police Scotland earlier said other members of the family, who are from West Yorkshire, had been camping in the area.
They continue to be supported by specialist officers.
It is understood West Yorkshire Police is supporting the investigation.
In a statement previously released through Police Scotland, Minnie's family said: "We are devastated with the loss of our beloved, absolutely incredible, beautiful and brave Minnie Moo.
"Our family asks that our privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time."
At the weekend, Arbroath FC held a minute's silence in tribute to Minnie ahead of kick-off against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Responding to the club's Facebook post, Minnie's aunt, Chloe Merriman, wrote: "We really appreciate this as a family. My sister, Laurie, is overwhelmed with the kindness and love from Arbroath."
A fundraiser has also been launched by a close friend of the family in a bid to support them.
Organiser Stevie Walker said their "whole world has been turned upside down".
He said the family had suffered "unimaginable heartbreak", adding: "Until Minnie can come home, the family face regular travel between Yorkshire and Scotland, as well as accommodation and everyday living costs.
"They also need to replace the basic things that most of us take for granted after losing their home and belongings."
More than £6,000 has been raised so far.
Read more from Sky News:
102-year-old man dies after alleged assault at pub
Man dies after bungalow destroyed in suspected gas explosion
NHS board investigating alleged 'data breach'
It comes as NHS Tayside is investigating an alleged "data breach" amid claims staff accessed Minnie's medical records without clinical need or permission.
A spokesperson for the health board said: "NHS Tayside is currently investigating the circumstances of an alleged data breach, which happened in a working clinical area where staff access patient information.
"As a matter of governance, any data protection breach would be recorded and investigated by NHS Tayside and, where appropriate, reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.
"It would not be appropriate for us to comment further on individual staffing matters."
Phillip Ormerod, from Cwmbran, was taken to hospital in a critical condition following the reported incident at the town's Crow's Nest pub around 10.25pm on 1 August.
Gwent Police confirmed on Thursday that he has since died.
A 56-year-old man from Llanelli was arrested on suspicion of section 20 assault and remains under investigation.
Read more:
Train derails latest: Paramedics on scene near station
Helicopter pilots see seven wildfires burning
Tributes were later paid to the "well-known character" who locals would buy drinks for, his son said.
Robert Ormerod said his father suffered from dementia and lived alone in the Llanyrafon neighbourhood, visiting Crow's Nest regularly.
He said: "I feel sad - even though he could be difficult because of his age and dementia, still, you get used to him being around.
"Even though I suppose he wouldn't go on forever, he would've carried on I think for a bit."
DCI Shelley Comley, senior investigating officer for Gwent Police, said: "We understand the public interest in this incident but want to remind people that not only is this an active criminal investigation but there is a family at the heart of it processing the loss of a loved one.
"Please consider the impact that inaccurate or speculative comments - particularly online commentary - could have on them and the ongoing investigation as a whole."
Gwent Police are looking to speak to anyone who was in the pub between 10pm and 11pm on the night of the incident.