How 'dine-and-dash' Port Talbot couple were exposed by viral CCTV
Imagine ordering T-bone steaks and desserts at a family-run restaurant, racking up a bill of hundreds of pounds, before legging it without paying a penny.Well, married couple Bernard and Ann McDonagh got away with doing this time and time again, dine-and-dashing to the value of more than £1,000 at five different restaurants.They had a brazen plan which they would act out each time, even involving their children.That was until last year, when a CCTV image of the couple shared by one of the affected restaurants on Facebook went viral, and justice caught up with them.
Speaking to the BBC's Strange But True Crime podcast, South Wales Police Inspector Andrew Hedley recalled how the CCTV social media post "exploded"."There was a huge outcry over what these people were doing," said Insp Hedley."There was a need to collectively bring this together under one umbrella and get a grip of it really quickly, before it escalated."It was a brazen disregard for the law."
The first target
Mr and Mrs McDonagh, from Sandfields in Port Talbot, first targeted a restaurant called The River House in Swansea in August 2023.They ordered the most expensive items on the menu, running up a bill of £267, before running off without paying.They got away with it that time - or so they thought - and went on to target Golden Fortune in Port Talbot, La Casona in Skewen and Isabella's in Porthcawl.Then, in April 2024, the couple visited the newly-opened restaurant Bella Ciao in Swansea.They ordered T-bone steaks and double pudding portions, racking up a bill of £329, before - once again - leaving without paying.The restaurant's owners, who at the time described the situation as "destroying", reported what happened to the police and shared a CCTV image of the couple on Facebook.The post gained enormous attention and social media sleuths started their own investigations, putting pressure on police who confirmed they were investigating the couple over "a number of reports of making off without payment from several businesses".
Within days, the couple were arrested and in May 2024 they pleaded guilty to failing to pay restaurant bills.Mrs McDonagh was jailed for 12 months while her husband was jailed for eight months.But how had they managed to get away with it for so long?The duo had a carefully practised plan which was boldly repeated at every restaurant.Mr McDonagh would leave the restaurant first with other family members, while one child would be left behind with Mrs McDonagh to pay the bill.When she would try to pay the card would be declined, and so she would offer to go to a cashpoint and leave the child at the restaurant as "proof" she would return.But the children were trained to be part of the plan, and seconds later they would run off too.At Swansea Crown Court, Mrs McDonagh also admitted to thefts from supermarkets and obstructing or resisting a police officer.The court heard she had even lied about being pregnant to get out of custody.Judge Paul Thomas KC described Mrs McDonagh as a "prolific liar".
'Pure and utter greed'
The question asked by many was why the couple did what they did.The court heard Mrs McDonagh may have been "trying to make herself feel better" following family bereavements.Mr McDonagh's defence barrister said the father-of-six was "deeply embarrassed and ashamed".But Judge Thomas said they were motivated by "pure and utter greed"."Over a period of around eight months, you two set out on a deliberate course of sustained dishonesty," he told the court."You would go into restaurants with your young family, you would have food and drink served to you, on the value of hundreds of pounds, then you would cynically leave without paying."The use of their children was "ruthlessly exploitative," the judge added, describing the incidents as "carefully pre-planned to a specific pattern" and "criminality for criminality's sake".
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