Dine-and-dash conman fled gastro pub with out paying his £600 invoice

A serial dine and sprint conman fled from a gastro pub with out paying his invoice of £600 for a two night time connoisseur keep – simply earlier than he ripped off a historic lodge with the identical title.

Craig Sharp, 52, made headlines this week after he did not pay his £452 invoice which included three meals and 26 pints throughout a three-night keep on the Angel lodge in Halesworth, Suffolk.

But MailOnline can reveal that simply days earlier he conned the Angel pub which is acclaimed for its high quality eating round 5 miles away within the village of Wangford close to Southwold, Suffolk.

Sharp of Harwich, Essex, tucked into lavish meals on the pub, washed down with quite a few beers, and even purchased rounds of drinks for locals which he added to his invoice.

But he slipped away within the morning with out settling his invoice of £600, and when workers tried to take fee on his debit card, they discovered that no funds have been accessible.

It was revealed yesterday that Sharp has a protracted document of dishonesty, courting again to 1993 and has served at the least 4 jail sentences for fraud together with dine and sprint offences.

Sharp booked one night time at The Angel in Wangford in November, utilizing his personal title and his actual tackle at his dad and mom’ dwelling, earlier than arranging to remain a second night time

Bradley Coote, who works on the pub, stated: ‘He ate with us and enjoyed quite a large amount of alcohol. I served him on one night. He was very charismatic.

‘He got himself on first name terms with all the staff members and was buying people drinks at the bar.

‘Funnily enough, he seemed a really nice guy. He was very chatty and friendly, and just really down to earth.

‘He told us he would come down in the morning and pay his bill, which is completely normal for a lot of customers, but it didn’t occur.

‘When he disappeared, we tried to cost his card, and it gave us an enormous “No’.

‘When we saw the report of him doing the same thing at the Angel in Halesworth, we talked to them and realised he was the same guy who had come to us.’

Staff at the Angel pub have since reported their dine and dash case to Suffolk Police who are said to be investigating.

The website for The Angel at Wangford says it has ‘seven well appointed, comfortable en-suite bedrooms full of character.’

It describes itself as ‘perfectly located’ and ‘a cosy pub where, for centuries, locals have been supping their pints and travellers finding a place to rest their weary heads after a wonderful feast’.

The website adds: ‘Delicious meals made from the best local seasonal ingredients, brought by our friendly front of house team, ensuring you have a wonderful time while you’re with us.’

The current menu includes main courses of braised beef short rib with caramelised miso onion, braised sesame potatoes, broccoli and miso juice priced at £20, and venison haunch, celeriac dauphinoise, smoked celeriac puree, charred hispi cabbage and dark chocolate jus at £22.

Sharp’s huge bill at the 16th century Angel Hotel in Halesworth included 15 pints of Birra Moretti, eight pints of Guinness, seven rum and cokes, three pints of Aspall cider, five bags of Mini Cheddars and three meals and other sides.

He tried to avoid suspicion by praising staff and buying them chocolates at the family-run hotel.

But the owners became worried after he slipped away early on his final day, and sent an email saying he would return later in the morning to pay.

When they never heard anything back from him, they realised he had conned them and released CCTV pictures of him inside and outside the hotel.

MailOnline revealed yesterday that the thirsty fraudster was Sharp who admits he has a ‘horrendous’ criminal record including a string of jail sentences for dine and dash scams.

In a similar con to his fraud in Wangford, he booked his first £75 night in the hotel online, using his real name and his real address.

Mr Sharp did not come to the door when a MailOnline reporter called at his parents’ semi-detached house on Wednesday afternoon.

When the reporter asked to speak to Craig, his father Barry Sharp 77, refused to say if he was in the house, and would not confirm or deny if he was the man on the CCTV.

After being shown the CCTV of the man with a distinctive bald patch at the hotel, Mr Sharp said: ‘I’m not at liberty to say anything to be honest with you. I’m not saying a word.

‘I mean, there is other things that are going on. That’s all I can say.’

When reminded about how his son had been jailed at least four times for dine and dash offences, he said: ‘It was a long while ago.’

Mr Sharp agreed when the reporter suggested that his son might be suffering from mental health problems, saying: ‘Exactly’.

The father added: ‘Nobody knows the situation do they. I’m not condoning what he has done in the past.

‘He has done his time. We don’t know what’s happened do we. It’s a long story. Put it that way. That’s all I’m going to say.’

MailOnline revealed on Thursday that he has pulled the same trick at a series of other hotels and up-market restaurants.

Sharp was already serving a prison sentence when he was jailed for a concurrent two months by magistrates in Colchester, Essex, in May 2017 after he admitted two counts of making off without payment at two glitzy hotels.

He pre-paid for a two night stay at the boutique Blue Ivy Hotel in North Hill, Colchester, on January 8 and 9, 2017, before arranging a third night and then leaving without paying the outstanding £202.

When police were notified, they realised he had committed a similar offence at the Milsoms Hotel and Restaurant in Dedham, Norfolk, in November 2015, when he left without paying £251.15 for food and drink, and a one night stay.

Representing himself in court, he tried to claim that he had tried to make amends to Blue Ivy, saying: ‘I knew I could not pay the bill for the third night. ‘

He added: ‘I contacted the owner afterwards and paid £45 but then realised there was no way I could pay the remainder.

‘I told him it would be dribs and drags over many months and the only way forward was for him to go to the police.

‘At Milsoms, I paid a £50 deposit on a card but knew I could not pay the rest.

‘At the time I did not care an awful lot what I was doing or the hurt I was causing myself or other people.

‘When I book in, I give my own details. I knew they would find me and I was burying my head in the sand. I hope I can be in prison, get myself sorted and come out with a clean slate.”’

Sharp went on: ‘I am unhappy with myself and who I am. There was a six year break in my offending when I moved to Scotland which proves I can knuckle down and get on with things.

‘My record is horrendous, but I am drawn towards doing these things. I give all my correct information and know I am going to get caught in the end.

‘Both my parents are 70 and have had health problems but they have said when I am released, I can go back and live with them.

‘It is up to me to get back to how I was six or seven years ago when I was doing well.’

Sharp was reported to have been jailed for extra offences in 2018, earlier than being imprisoned but once more for 48 weeks by Ipswich magistrates in May 2021 after failing to pay payments totalling £2,579.82 at 4 luxurious resorts.

The court docket heard how he booked a two-night keep on the Crown in Bildeston, Suffolk, on February 25, 2020, utilizing his personal title and financial institution particulars, and charged foods and drinks to his room.

He requested one other night time’s keep, and left behind a invoice of £494.85

Sharp headed the identical day to the timber-framed fifteenth century Swan Hotel in Lavenham, Suffolk, the place supermodel Claudia Schiffer stayed earlier than her marriage ceremony.

He gave his personal title and financial institution card, though he gave a false tackle in London, earlier than fleeing with out paying his invoice of £887.57.

Sharp then arrived on March 2 on the seaside Brudenell Hotel in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, the place he racked up an unpaid invoice of £491.20.

Finally, he had one other seaside break on the Caley Hall Hotel, in Hunstanton, Norfolk, after asking if he may pay on departure.

He informed workers he was going out for the day, however when his room was checked, all his belongings had gone, and he had left an impressive invoice of £706.20.

The Caley Hall Hotel closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and when it reopened in July, makes an attempt have been made to contact Sharp and get him to repay the cash. He offered financial institution particulars to workers however they have been rejected.

Paul Baker, defending Sharp, stated he had been caring for his dad and mom who weren’t in good well being, and ‘things just got on top of him’ and he wanted to get away from dwelling.

Companies House information reveal that Sharp arrange his personal automobile valet enterprise known as CRS Valet Ltd, registered at his dad and mom’ dwelling in May final 12 months.

The agency which has by no means filed accounts, confronted a obligatory strike off discover in August this 12 months after it did not file a discover confirming that he was nonetheless sole director. The discover has since been suspended.

Angel Hotel supervisor William Tennant, 24, stated he had alerted Action Fraud after Sharp did not pay his £210 lodging invoice and £242 for foods and drinks.

Mr Tennant stated: ‘It’s disappointing. More than something, we glance after individuals nicely right here on a regular basis, you’ll discover loads of witnesses of that.

‘It’s clearly some sadistic sport he likes to play or an habit he’s acquired if he’s been doing it for thus lengthy. So that’s unhappy actually, to be trustworthy.

‘He’s clearly a tragic man. He even purchased goodies for us to thank us for our hospitality. It’s not a small amount of cash, and turnover smart, you must earn a major quantity extra to get that again, profit-wise.’

Mr Tennant stated Sharp had been ‘very complimentary’ to workers throughout his keep and had spent his evenings sinking pints on the bar.

But he now believes this was merely a means of guaranteeing his ‘brazen’ scheme went unnoticed .

He added: ‘He was just businessman-like. He was a middle-aged bloke. He was chatty and friendly.

‘He was polite and very complimentary to our staff, saying how amazing he had been treated, how lovely everything was, how content he is.

‘He originally just booked in for one night. I suppose that was him scouting out how many extras he could put onto his room without paying for them.

‘He sat with his back to the camera in the bar, which looking back must have been an intentional thing.

‘There’s CCTV footage of him in every single place. I believed he was too brazen to be a con man. People are usually a bit smarter in case you really attempt to not be caught.

‘He started on Aspall, then he had Moretti and Guinness. It worked out about eight pints a night.’

Mr Tennant stated workers grew to become involved when the person slipped out through the morning on November 23 earlier than promising to return and pay in an e-mail.

When they searched his title on-line, they discovered studies of his jail sentences for different dine and sprint scams.

Mr Tennant stated: ‘It’s not unimaginable to depart with out anybody seeing you. It’s a small lodge so he didn’t present up for breakfast.’

‘He emailed to say, “Sorry I had to leave in a rush, I’ll be back in time to check out and settle my bill, can I stay another night?” or one thing.

‘We then thought this is a bit weird now. And then we Googled him and we saw him – and realised this is the guy. We never heard from him again.’