‘Dine and dashers’ to be sentenced this month

Father-of-three Bernard 41, and wife Ann 39, confessed to racking up £1,168 worth of unpaid restaurant bills, as well as shoplifting £1,017 in goods from Tommy Hilfiger, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

The pair now could face jail when they are sentenced by a judge at crown court later this month for their dining crimes which left businesses such as the Bella Ciao Italian restaurant in Castle Street, Swansea hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

CCTV footage from the restaurant showed Mrs McDonagh attempting to pay the bill with a savings account card, which was declined twice.

She 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. 

The other counts related to meals at Isabella’s in Porthcawl, River House in Swansea Docks, Golden Fortune in Port Talbot and La Casona in Skewen.

The couple, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, pleaded guilty to failing to pay restaurant bills between August 2023 and April 2024 at Swansea Magistrates’ Court today.

Ann also admitted thefts from two supermarkets as well as one count of obstructing or resisting a police officer.

The court heard the main aggravating factor in the case was the ‘presence of children’ when multiple offences were carried out and that Bernard had antecedent history.

District Judge Chris James committed the proceedings to Swansea Crown Court for sentencing on May 29. He granted both defendants unconditional bail and requested a pre-sentencing report was made for each of them.

[Lead image: Facebook/Bella Ciao Swansea]

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