One in 20 people have admitted to walking out of a restaurant without paying, a trend that is reportedly on the rise in Britain. Restaurant owners are left shaken and out of pocket, with incidents ranging from fabricated allergy complaints to outright running off without settling the bill.
This summer, a couple from Port Talbot in south Wales were jailed for a series of 'dine and dash' offences. Ann McDonagh received a 12-month sentence, while her husband Bernard McDonagh was given eight months. A judge at Swansea Crown Court described their actions as 'cynically and brazenly' defrauding restaurants by paying with a dud card and failing to return after claiming to get cash.
Aldo Esposito, owner of La Bella Vista in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, has been hit three times in three months. In one incident, a group of four claimed a severe allergic reaction to an ingredient they said they hadn't understood was in their meal, then rushed off to hospital, leaving a £200 bill unpaid. Another group of eight children and four adults allegedly planted an item in their food and refused to pay a £400 bill. Police declined to intervene, calling it a civil matter.
Donna Jones, Conservative police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, says dine-and-dash incidents are 'shooting up' amid the cost of living crisis. She urged businesses to share images of offenders online to name and shame them. However, a police spokesperson cautioned that publicly sharing images could harm the criminal justice process and lead to legal repercussions if innocent people are identified.
Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality, notes that while the number of incidents remains small, the impact on businesses is severe. Restaurants operate on net-profit margins of less than 4%, and the cashflow loss from such thefts cannot be reclaimed through insurance. The McDonaghs, for example, ordered expensive items like T-bone steaks and double desserts as part of their scam.
