This is the shocking moment a restaurant diner appears to deliberately drop a piece of glass in his own meal in a desperate attempt to avoid footing the bill.
Bizarre CCTV purportedly shows the conman reach into his pocket before sneakily mixing the sharp object with his food while dining with a woman at Buddha Lounge in Tynemouth, North Tyneside.
The mystery man seemingly pretends to take a bite but instantly jumps up and picks out the glass which he then holds out in front of him.
He reportedly refused to pay and stormed off alone leaving staff at the Asian eatery with no option but to call the police.
The restaurant’s general manager, Stephanie Bambrough, 42, said: ‘We think they may have been boyfriend and girlfriend and during the meal she found out he had cheated on her.
‘It was very tense and at some point they decided they couldn’t pay.
‘The male then shouted that there was glass in his food at which point I went to investigate.
‘It’s illegal to have glass in the kitchen so I was confident we hadn’t done anything but the customer is always right.
This is the shocking moment a restaurant diner appears to deliberately drop a piece of glass in his own meal in a desperate attempt to avoid footing the bill
Bizarre CCTV purportedly shows the conman reach into his pocket before sneakily mixing the sharp object with his food while dining with a woman at Buddha Lounge in Tynemouth, North Tyneside
The mystery man seemingly pretends to take a bite but instantly jumps up and picks out the glass which he then holds out in front of him
‘I checked the footage and you could see straight away he was being an actor. He got the glass straight out of his pocket.
‘He said “I’m not paying for this, it’s ridiculous”.
‘The woman had already gone at this point, I think she was embarrassed.
‘He did storm off and then we had to ring the police.’
Unfortunately for the restaurant, the diners hadn’t made a reservation for the table meaning their identities were unknown.
Stephanie offered to take the food off the bill but she said the male refused to pay for anything before making a dash for the exit.
However, staff believe he has struck before and are hoping to warn other businesses in the area.
Stephanie added: ‘It was only one small piece of glass and we could tell it had been in his pocket because it had fluff on it.
‘You can see him poke it into the food which I think was a spring roll. It’s pretty blatant.
‘I offered to take the food off the bill. He had already drank the wine but he said he was refusing to pay for anything.
‘We think he had a taxi waiting outside as we went after him but he was nowhere to be seen.
‘There were other tables around with kids around so I didn’t want to make a big deal of it.
‘There’s no point fighting someone over £60.
‘But I don’t know how people do it. I would be mortified.
‘I have been in this industry for most of my life and I’ve not witnessed anything as dramatic before.’
A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: ‘Shortly after 6pm on Friday (November 15), we received a report of making off without payment at a premises on Front Street in the Tynemouth area.
‘It was reported that a male customer was seen placing glass in his food, before refusing to pay for his meal and leaving the premises.
‘Enquiries into the report are ongoing and anyone with information should send us a direct message on social media, use the live chat function on our website or go to the tell us about an existing case page, also on the website.
‘For those unable to contact us via those ways, call 101. Please quote crime reference number 135625A/24.’