Mother admits ‘dine and sprint’ after she refused to pay £277 invoice
A mother has admitted to performing a ‘dine and dash’ at a Wagamama restaurant after she refused pay over claims there was a hair in her food.
Rosemary McDonagh was in a branch of the restaurant with friends in Ashford, Kent, when they were handed a £277 bill to pay.
A court heard that McDonagh complained about the food before leaving without footing the large bill.
The mother-of-two was arrested on Tuesday September 10 and has now pleaded guilty to the ‘dine and dash’ offence at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court.
Ranji Prashar, prosecuting, said McDonagh had finished eating at Wagamama at about 4.30pm on January 23 this year.
Rosemary McDonagh (pictured) was in a branch of the restaurant with friends in Ashford, Kent, when they were handed a £277 bill to pay. A court heard that McDonagh complained about the food before leaving without footing the large bill
Wagamama restaurant in Ashford where McDonagh left without footing her bill. McDonagh refused to pay over allegation there was a hair in her food
She said: ‘There were five or six others who ordered food, which came to £226.90, and the others left and it was [McDonagh] and one other still there.
‘She then complained there was a hair in her dish and [the meal] was removed and she was offered another. But she refused to pay and then left the restaurant.
‘During interview, she made no comment.’
McDonagh was also questioned over the theft of bedding from a Dunelm store on December 27 last year.
The items – valued at between £150 and £190 – were stolen from the store at the Ashford Retail Park.
McDonagh admitted to both shoplifting at Dunelm and a charge of making off without payment in relation to the incident at Wagamama.
Defending herself, she told the court her life had been in turmoil when she committed her crimes.
She said: ‘Back then, between December and April, I was in a bad relationship and my head was all over the place.
‘I did complain [in Wagamama] as I wasn’t happy to pay the bill for them.’
Asked to explain more about her own circumstances, McDonagh told magistrates she is from the travelling community and lives with her parents and her two young children.
The mother-of-two was arrested on Tuesday September 10 and has now pleaded guilty to the ‘dine and dash’ offence at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court (pictured)
She added: ‘I don’t work, I am on benefits and I get £600 Universal Credit a month.
‘I also get child benefits, but that’s for the kids, and I get PIP for my mental health – that’s about £400 to £500 a month.’
Despite McDonagh having committed a number of previous thefts, and having been placed on a community order before for her crimes, magistrates decided to hand her a financial penalty.
McDonagh was fined £138 for the Wagamama incident and ordered to pay the restaurant £50 compensation for her meal.
She was not made to settle the outstanding tab that had been racked up by her fellow diners.
But McDonagh was ordered to pay Dunelm £150 compensation for the bedding she stole but received no separate penalty for that offence.
The chairman of the bench warned her: ‘This must stop or you will be in serious trouble. You have two young children to think about.’
