‘Dine and Sprint’ Couple Jailed After Racking Up ‘Enormous’ Eating places Payments: ‘Brazen Offending’

Married Welsh couple Ann and Bernard McDonagh did not pay payments at 5 eating places

A married couple from Wales have been jailed after a collection of dine and sprint offenses.

Ann McDonagh, 39, and Bernard McDonagh, 41, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, U.Ok., have been sentenced following “a number of incidents of non-payment of restaurant payments and shoplifting,” per a Could 29 press release shared by South Wales Police.

Ann was charged with 5 counts of fraud and 4 counts of theft (shoplifting), whereas her husband was charged with 5 counts of fraud, the discharge acknowledged.

Ann has been sentenced to 1 yr in jail, and Bernard will spend eight months behind bars.

The fees come after the pair pleaded responsible to the costs at Swansea Magistrates’ Court docket on Wednesday, Could 8.

Police confirmed the affected eating places included Bella Ciao and River Home, Swansea; La Casona, Skewen; Golden Fortune, Port Talbot; and Isabella’s, Porthcawl.

Ann additionally pleaded responsible to shoplifting prices affecting Tommy Hilfiger and Sainsbury’s at McArthurGlen Bridgend Designer Outlet and Tesco Further, Swansea, in addition to “obstructing a police officer in the midst of their obligation at Queen’s Highway Police Station, Bridgend,” per the discharge.

Inspector Andrew Hedley mentioned, “The prolific and brazen offending of Ann and Bernard McDonagh rightly caught the eye of a big proportion of the native public. It’s nice to see that justice has now been served within the type of these sentences and thank these members of public who assisted with the investigation,” seemingly referencing the photographs of the couple which were circulating on-line in current months.

“They intentionally ran up big payments at eating places which that they had no intention of paying. This had a big affect on the premises they focused, one among which was newly-opened on the time. Decreasing and stopping enterprise and retail crime is a precedence inside Swansea Metropolis, and any crime will probably be totally investigated, with these discovered offending, delivered to justice,” Hedley added.

“Ann and Bernard McDonagh clearly felt that the regulation didn’t apply to them. This sentencing exhibits that it does,” he continued.

In response to retailers together with RTE, the Guardian, and the BBC, the restaurant payments totaled greater than $1,271 (£1,000). They reportedly used greater than 40 names and 18 dates of start between them.

Per RTE, the couple would order costly foods and drinks earlier than leaving with out paying, typically leaving a baby within the restaurant whereas claiming they had been going out to an ATM to get money. The youngsters would then run off, the outlet claimed.

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Ann additionally took gadgets value over $1,293 (£1,017.60) at shops together with Tommy Hilfiger, the outlet acknowledged. The offenses came about from fall 2023 to spring 2024.

“You weren’t going to those locations to feed you and your loved ones, it was criminality for criminality’s sake – to see when you might get away with it,” Decide Paul Thomas mentioned through the sentencing, per RTE, calling them utilizing kids to attend within the eateries “ruthlessly exploitative.”

South Wales Police did not instantly reply when contacted by PEOPLE for remark.

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