A SERIAL ‘dine and dash’ family may have hit at least SEVEN restaurants – leaving themselves out of bills for luxury meals worth more than £1,000, it is claimed.
The family of eight were named and shamed by Italian Bella Ciao in Port Talbot, near Swansea, this week after they allegedly left without paying for £329 worth of food.
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And now three other restaurants have gone public with their warning about the family, and police have reportedly been alerted by at least seven.
The family faces up to two years in prison for stealing from the series of alleged dodgy restaurants they have eaten at over the past eight months.
It’s led by a middle-aged couple who even took a small child in a baby seat down the last aisle.
The Yard in Cowbridge, River House in Swansea and La Casone in Skewen have all made public calls for restaurants to take care.
Bella Ciao claims that a woman who was part of the group tried to pay with a savings card, but was refused twice.
Do you know the family or has something similar happened at your restaurant? Email sarah.grealish@the-sun.co.uk
They say she said her son would wait inside while she went out to get the other card – but she didn’t return and her son went on a “run”.
Manager Tyrone Reese, of the family business, said he reported it to the police and added: “They were ordering the most expensive things on the menu, like T-bone steaks and the like.”
The restaurant posted the video of the dinner and race on Bella Ciao’s social media pages, which went viral and received more than 12 million views.
After sharing the clip, other restaurants also spoke out and said they believed the couple was targeting them.
La Casona in Skewen, more than six miles from Swansea, is one of many restaurants that claim the group also attacked them in February and left without paying a bill of almost £300.
The Mediterranean restaurant said: “After the meal, four people have already left our restaurant. A lady kept a boy to ‘pay’.
“She said she would get another card from the car. We asked the boy to stay and wait for her at the restaurant.
“She left and, 10 seconds later, the boy started running towards the car. We called the police as soon as it happened.
“The police responded that it was not an emergency and that we could only report them, which we did.”
The Yard in Cowbridge says a similar incident also happened there in March, with a £151 bill left unpaid.
Owner Paul Langford said: “We reported this to the police. [A woman] it was pleasant throughout the meal. They ordered steak too. We don’t do steak and thank God!
DINNER AND DASH LAW EXPLAINED
If a client or group “dines and runs” they may be charged under section 3 of the Theft Act 1978.
These are people who eat out and leave without paying.
It is considered theft if there is a lack of payment when it is known that payment for goods or services is required.
The crime can carry a prison sentence of up to two years
“When it came to paying, the family stopped saving for [the woman]. She tried to use her bank card, which was declined twice, then said she was going to an ATM a few doors down and fled.
“We have been open since 2017 and this is the first and only time this has happened to us. We were in shock and heard from around seven other restaurants in south Wales about something similar happening.”
Last summer, the River House Lounge & Restaurant in Swansea also posted CCTV footage of the same family members on its social media page after they said they paid a “hefty bill” and did the same dinner-and-run act.
In August, they posted a CCTV image of the father and mother and wrote: “Thank you all so much for sharing. 12 positive identifications and the Police are now processing the information provided to us.
“Please SHARE to help identify them. They charge a very high bill (of £5) and ‘promised’ to take cash from the local ATM after your card was declined.
“We like to trust people, but this was obviously carefully planned as they all just disappeared!”
Across the three restaurants allegedly targeted this year in total, the group is said to have lost bills worth almost £800, alongside last year’s large bill.
Other restaurants believed to have been hit by the scam include Chili Too in Swansea, La Casona in Heath, The Somerset Arms in Port Talbot and The Longbow Beefeater in Gwaun Elai.
Leaving a restaurant without paying is a crime and carries a prison sentence of up to two years.
South Wales Police said: “Investigations are ongoing to establish the full circumstances behind the incidents and identify those involved.”
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