Brit mum-of-three faces up to 50 years in prison after audacious wine heist
Natali Ray, a British mother of three from Herne Bay, Kent, appeared in Clark County General District Court in Virginia this week, charged with grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and defrauding an innkeeper. She faces up to 50 years in a United States prison after allegedly attempting an audacious wine heist. Prosecutors say the target was six bottles of Pinot Noir from Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate, valued at around £31,500.
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The alleged haul: six bottles of Pinot Noir from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Six bottles of Pinot Noir from Burgandy’s legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate, valued at around £31,500, are alleged to have been stolen. The mum is said to have strolled into the L'Auberge Provencale winery and deliberately distracted staff at the historic cellar while an accomplice swiped the wine. On November 19 she allegedly used a fake name to pose as the assistant of a wealthy Canadian businesswoman. The booty she is accused of swiping? Six bottles of pinot noir from Burgandy’s legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate, valued at around £31,500.
CCTV evidence and the confrontation at the winery
CCTV footage shows a woman police allege to be Ray telling the receptionist at the restaurant: “I’ve heard of your reputation.” She then demanded to talk to sommelier Christian Borel, claiming to need to see if the wine was “climate controlled”. Ray’s unnamed male accomplice then allegedly slipped eight bottles from the cellar into his long woolen coat, said to have special “long pockets” to help him conceal the goods. Borel alleges Ray “wrapped up the conversation abruptly” when he was “in the middle of a sentence”, saying that she’d be “in touch”. On the way out, the sommelier said the pair had been “quick footed, but not running or jogging. She was shuffling quickly”. Borel ran after the alleged crooks, yelling: “No, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not.”
The arrest, Ray's abduction claim and neighbour reactions
After a dramatic chase, Ray’s accomplice managed to get away but the Herne Bay mum was arrested at the scene. Ray – a divorcee who has never been on the wrong side of the law before – insisted to officials she’d been abducted by the accomplice who had forced her into the crime after they had met on a cruise. Speaking to the Daily Mail, one neighbour back in Kent described the alleged theft as “totally out of character”. They said: “I fear her good nature has been her downfall; she can too easily see the good in people. She often lives on a pink cloud where everything is perfect. But of course it is not.”
What happens next and the neighbours' reflections
Ray appeared in court facing charges of grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and defrauding an innkeeper in Virginia. She could face up to 50 years in a United States prison. She appeared in Clark County General District Court in Virginia this week. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
