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Police chasing a couple of serial ‘dine and dashers’ have today arrested man and a woman after a string of restaurants across south Wales claimed they had been the victims of ‘food thefts’ since last summer.
The suspects, aged 41 and 39, were arrested for fraud and theft offences in a dawn swoop on their home in Port Talbot and have been taken in for questioning at Swansea Police Station.
At least seven restaurants have claimed that a couple allegedly behind a ‘dine and dash’ racket have been ordering expensive menu items – typically steaks – before fleeing and leaving the bill unpaid.
CCTV footage exclusively obtained by MailOnline shows a woman leaving The Yard Pizzeria in Cowbridge, having allegedly built up a £151 tab with a group of six in March this year.
Emily Langford, the manager of the family-run restaurant the Yard, said each member of the group ordered starters, mains and two bottles of fizzy drinks each. Once they had finished, most of them allegedly left the premises, leaving the woman to settle the tab.
She allegedly came to the counter and tried to pay with her card, which was declined twice, before asking staff for the nearest cashpoint and disappearing out of sight after walking out the door.
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Ms Langford told MailOnline: ‘They left the woman to pay. And she stood up and said ‘Oh, is it okay? If I come to the bar to pay?’ and we said that was fine.
‘She was basically buttering me and my mum up and was saying lots of nice things to us. But as she put her card in it got declined. She was like ‘oh that’s weird’ and it declined again.
‘She said she would call her son and sort out a bank transfer, but we weren’t comfortable with that and asked if she could pay in cash and showed her where the nearest cash point was.
‘I showed her where it was and as I turned my head back through the door to tell my mum she was at the cash point, by the time I turned around again she was gone.’
This ‘dine and dash’ playbook has been allegedly deployed by the couple in each of the outlets they have hit in the last year.
Staff at the Bella Ciao Italian restaurant in Port Talbot say they were the latest victims of this heist when the couple sat with a group of eight in their restaurant on Friday night and allegedly left without paying the £329 bill.
CCTV footage from the restaurant showed the woman attempting to pay the bill with a savings account card, which was declined twice.
She allegedly told staff her son would wait inside while she went to get her ‘other card’, but she did not return and moments later the boy had also vanished from the premises.
A similar trick was allegedly used by the couple at the River House last year, when they ran up a hefty bill whilst sitting on a table of five and ‘promised’ to get cash from the local cash point after their card got declined.
But the diners never returned, leading the restaurant owners to call the police.
The Somerset Arms in Port Talbot, The Longbow Beefeater in Pontyclun, the Chilli Too Indian restaurant in Clydach, La Casona in Skewen, the Riverhouse Lounge and Restaurant in Swansea also believe they are all victims.
On August 9, 2023, they posted a CCTV image of the couple in their establishment and wrote: ‘Thank you so much to everyone for sharing. 12 positive identifications and the Police are now dealing with the information we have been given.
‘Please SHARE to help identify these. They run up a very hefty bill (for 5) and ‘promised’ to get cash from the local cash point after their card got declined. We like to put some trust in people, but this was obviously carefully planned as they all just disappeared!’
After hearing the Bella Ciao story on Friday, the La Casona restaurant in Skewen, Neath, took to social media this weekend to share a similar story about the couple, who sat down to eat as a group of six on February 23.
According to the restaurant, four of the group left the building after finishing their meal, which cost nearly £300, leaving the mother to stay with a ‘young boy’ to pay.
The business posted a CCTV image of the mother, who told staff she would get another card from her car after the one she used was declined.
The restaurant asked the boy to wait with them whilst she went to the car, but he was gone 10 seconds later and never returned.
They wrote on Facebook: ‘We asked the boy to stay and wait for her in the restaurant. She left, and 10 seconds after, the boy started to run to the car.
‘We sent CCTV recordings, photos, and even the registration plate number. The response was: ‘This vehicle is connected to many people…’
‘Two months later, we called to ask about our case. There was no update, but the Officer would contact us… We believed reporting to the police would help to prevent such events for other restaurants—but apparently, it didn’t.’
Tyrone Reese, manager of Bella Ciao, also said he was disappointed by the lack of urgency shown by the force to catch the perpetrators, adding: ‘I’m paying my tax for police but I seem to be powerless. It annoys me to know this is happening and that they are getting away with it.’
To add insult to injury, the family-owned restaurant learned there was no way to contact the family as the number they used to take the booking was ‘fake’. Mr Reese has now reported the incident to the police.
The dine and dash video he posted onto Bella Ciao’s social media pages went viral over the weekend, with more than 12 million people viewing the post.
After publishing the clip, Mr Reese says he was bombarded with calls from other restaurants in the area, claiming they also had similar incidents with a family that had refused to pay.
But the video has actually helped Mr Reese’s business as the following night he had tripled the number of bookings, something he described as a ‘sign of solidarity’ from the local community.
Leaving a restaurant without paying is a crime and carries a prison sentence of up to two years.
In a statement, South Wales Police said: ‘Two people have been arrested following reports of several incidents of non-payment of restaurant bills and shoplifting.
‘A 41-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman, both from Sandfields, Port Talbot, have been arrested for fraud (obtaining services dishonestly) and theft offences. They are currently in police custody at Swansea Central police station.
‘Our investigation is ongoing.’
