Chef served ecstasy-spiked dessert in Hoxton pub

A top chef, who once served afternoon tea to the Queen, is facing jail after dishing up a dessert spiked with ecstasy at a Hoxton pub.

Neil Iron, 32, laced chocolate truffles with the class-A drug when he prepared food for a birthday celebration at the Red Lion pub in Hoxton Square, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Jurors were told guest Charlie Webster had an “out-of-body experience” after eating two “special” chocolate truffles at the party on October 8 last year.

Iron, of Haberdasher Street, Hoxton, denied spiking the food and claimed the truffles could have been tampered with by party guests.

It was also alleged that two toddlers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became ill after sharing a chocolate dessert the next day when their parents took them out for a Sunday roast.

Although Iron was cleared of two counts of administering poison or a noxious substance with intent to the youngsters, he was found guilty of an identical count relating to Mr Webster on Monday (June 25).

Adjourning sentencing until July 20, Judge Neil Sanders said: “My view is any administration of ecstasy is a serious matter that crosses the custody threshold.”

The court heard Iron, who served the Queen when she opened a ward at the Royal Marsden Hospital when he was head chef there, had been cautioned last April for possession of cocaine.