LONDON — A Welsh couple who dined out on expensive meals and left when the bill arrived are now paying the price – behind bars.
Bernard and Ann McDonagh were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for fraud after racking up unpaid bills, including three-course meals, top cuts of meat and double portions of dessert.
Judge Paul Thomas told Swansea Crown Court that his dine-and-run spree was driven by “pure and utter greed”.
“You weren’t going to these places to feed yourself and your family, it was criminality for criminality’s sake, to see if you could get away with it,” he said. “I have no doubt that, aside from the element of greed, you were excited about what you were able to do.”
Worse still, the judge said, they were “ruthlessly exploitative” by using their children in the scheme.
When a bank card was declined for lack of funds, at least one of the six children was left at the table while they apparently went to withdraw money from an ATM.
They never returned to pay and the children would eventually flee to a waiting vehicle.
The couple, who covered their faces as they rushed to court, had pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud. Four restaurants and a Chinese takeaway business were defrauded of almost £1,170 ($1,485) in crimes stretching back to last autumn, a prosecutor said.
The pair, who have several previous convictions and used more than 40 aliases, were caught after restaurants posted images of them on social media.
Ann McDonagh, 39, who also admitted four counts of theft, was sentenced to 12 months in prison. She also admitted to obstructing an officer when she lied that she was nine months pregnant to get out of jail after being arrested. She was not expecting a child at that time.
His lawyer, Andrew Evans, said he was sorry for the deaths of a family member, although he did not provide further details. He said she may have committed the crimes to “feel better.”
Bernard McDonagh, 41, was sentenced to eight months in prison.
Defense lawyer Giles Hayes said the husband was “deeply embarrassed and ashamed” and had taken the money to court to repay the restaurants.
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