Mayo Dine-And-Dash Pair Get Their Just Desserts

A married couple from Mayo who committed serial ‘dine and dash’ offences in the UK – racking up large bills for food and drink before leaving without paying – have been jailed.

Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, both of Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales, ordered three-course meals for themselves and their family, including T-bone steaks and desserts, with some being sent back uneaten

Swansea Crown Court heard the pair, who used over 40 aliases and 18 dates of birth between them, dishonestly obtained food and drink at four restaurants and one takeaway in the south Wales area, with the unpaid bills totalling £1,168.10 (€1,370).

The couple, who pleaded guilty to five joint charges of fraud, were arrested after images of their scam were posted on social media. Ann McDonagh also admitted four counts of shoplifting, including at designer store Tommy Hilfiger, taking items worth £1,017.60 (€1,195).

Judge Paul Thomas sentenced Ann McDonagh to 12 months and Bernard McDonagh to eight, telling them their actions could have been motivated by ‘pure and utter greed’.

Prosecutor Alycia Carpanini told the court how the pair went to the River House in Swansea with three children on August 9 last year and ‘ordered a large amount of food’, adding: ‘Ann McDonagh attempted payment. She asked where the nearest cashpoint was. [She] left a child in the restaurant to wait for her return and to pay. It was at this point the child asked to go to the toilet and ran from the restaurant. The total bill was £267.60 [€314].’

On September 6, Ann McDonagh went to a Tesco Extra store in Swansea and loaded a trolley with toiletries and alcohol worth £126.60(€149) before pushing it through the self-service checkout without paying.

The family ordered a Chinese takeaway costing £99.40(€117) from Golden Fortune in Port Talbot on January 31. They took the food, closed the door and did not pay the delivery driver.

On February 3, Ann McDonagh stole six polo shirts and one pair of chinos worth £442 (€519) from the Tommy Hilfiger store at Bridgend Designer Outlet by hiding them in her gilet jacket.

She came back on February 17 and was seen breaking security tags off items and trying to conceal them, making off with £49(€58) worth of goods.

On February 23, the pair and four children went to the La Casona restaurant in Skewen where they ordered three-course meals worth £276.60 (€325), before leaving without paying.

Ann McDonagh shoplifted from Sainsburys in Bridgend on February 25, taking clothing and other items worth £400 (€470).

She was arrested for separate offences – which were not proceeded with – on March 13 and taken in for an interview.

Ms Carpanini said: ‘The defendant told the custody sergeant she was nine months pregnant. The on-duty medical officer instructed that she had to be released.’

‘The Crown say the defendant was not pregnant on that occasion and lied.’ 

On March 27, the couple went to Isabella’s in Porthcawl and ordered £196 (€230) of food and drink. Ann McDonagh tried to pay with a card that was declined three times.

She told staff she would go to an ATM and left a child at the restaurant. They ran out ten minutes later, with the family seen leaving in a white vehicle.

On April 19, the couple, along with five others, went to Bella Ciao in Swansea having pre-booked a table under the name Lucy Logan.

Ann McDonagh tried to pay the £329.10(€386.68) bill with a card that was declined and told staff that she would get money from an ATM – leaving a teenager there while she went.

Ms Carpanini said that, after five minutes, the boy ran away.

Judge Thomas said using children to wait in the restaurants, who would then run off, while pretending to go to a cashpoint, was ‘ruthlessly exploitative’.

The judge said the behaviour of the family, from the Traveller community, would ‘fuel and reinforce’ negative stereotypes.

Extra reporting by Claire Hayhurst