A couple who admitted a series of ‘dine and dash’ offenses at a string of restaurants in South Wales have been jailed after racking up bills totaling more than £1,100.
Bernard, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, who between them use more than 40 aliases and 18 dates of birth, had visited five locations with their family and ordered food and drinks with “no intention of paying for them”.
The pair committed their first offense at River House restaurant in Swansea on August 9 last year when they spent £267 on food and drink before leaving without paying.
They also ordered food worth £99.40 from Golden Fortune takeaway in Port Talbot in January, and also made £276.60 from La Casona restaurant in Skewen on February 23.
On March 27, the couple dishonestly obtained £196 worth of food and drink from Isabella’s in Porthcawl. They committed the same offense again on April 19, taking £329.10 worth of food and drink from Bella Ciao in Swansea.
Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard the five offences, which both defendants admitted, totaling £1,168.10.
Ann McDonagh also pleaded guilty to four counts of shoplifting, totaling £1,017.60, relating to thefts at Tesco in Swansea and at Tommy Hilfiger and Sainsbury’s at Bridgend Designer Outlet.
The thefts took place between September 6 last year and February 25 this year. She stole six polo shirts and a pair of chinos worth £442 from the Tommy Hilfiger store by hiding them in her waistcoat jacket.
Days later she returned and was seen breaking security tags off items before trying to hide them, driving away in a blue Ford Transit van – a mobility vehicle – with £49 worth of goods.
Judge Paul Thomas sentenced Ann McDonagh to 12 months in prison and Bernard McDonagh to eight months, telling them their actions could have been motivated by “pure and utter greed”.
He said to them, “From the fall of last year to the spring of this year, the two of you deliberately embarked on a course of continued dishonesty.
“You went to restaurants with your own family. You would be given food and drink worth hundreds of pounds, and then you would cynically and shamelessly leave without paying.
“You ordered the most expensive items on the menu, like steaks, knowing you had no intention of paying for them.”
The judge said the use of children to wait in the restaurants, who then ran away pretending to go to an ATM, was “ruthlessly exploitative”.
South Wales Police previously confirmed the pair had been charged with the offenses in April “following reports of several incidents of non-payment of restaurant bills and shoplifting”.
The case came to light after the newly opened Bella Ciao in Swansea reported that a family had left without paying a bill worth £329.
On Facebook, the restaurant described how a woman tried to pay with a savings account card, but was denied twice.
She then told the staff that her son would wait inside while she went to get another card.
The post read: “…of course she doesn’t come back and then the son gets a call and says he has to go for a run.”
It detailed how the family had provided a ‘false’ number to book a table at the restaurant, meaning the incident was reported to the police.
“To do this to anyone is disgusting, but to do this to a newly opened restaurant is even worse,” the company wrote.
The River House also posted about the couple on Facebook, stating that they had run up a bill for £270 before leaving without paying.
In August last year the restaurant wrote: “They charged a very high bill (of £5) and ‘promised’ to get cash at the local ATM after their card was declined.
“We like to put our trust in some people, but this was obviously carefully planned as they all just disappeared.”
Giles Hayes represented Bernard McDonagh and said his client had taken the money to court to pay it back.
He described father-of-six McDonagh as “deeply embarrassed and ashamed” by his actions.
Andrew Evans, representing Ann McDonagh, said she had suffered family loss and may have committed the fraud “to try to make herself feel better”.