Footage showing the moment police caught a couple from Bridgend who left a number of restaurants without paying has been released.
Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, were jailed for eight months and 12 months, respectively, at Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday.
They previously pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud.
The court heard the unpaid bills totalled £1,168.10 across five restaurants.
Ann McDonagh also admitted four counts of theft and one count of obstructing or resisting a constable in the execution of duty.
The sentencing judge said they had “set out on a deliberate course of sustained dishonesty”.
Inspector Andrew Hedley from South Wales Police thanked the members of the public who assisted with the force’s investigation.
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“The prolific and brazen offending of Ann and Bernard McDonagh rightly caught the attention of a large percentage of the local public. It is great to see that justice has now been served in the form of these sentences,” he said.
“They deliberately ran up huge bills at restaurants which they had no intention of paying. This had a significant impact on the premises they targeted, one of which was newly opened at the time.
“Reducing and preventing business and retail crime is a priority within Swansea city and any crime will be fully investigated, with those found offending brought to justice.
“Ann and Bernard McDonagh clearly felt that the law did not apply to them. This sentencing shows that it does.”
‘Most expensive items on the menu’
Sentencing the pair on Wednesday, Judge Paul Thomas KC said the defendants “got a buzz from what [they] were able to get away with”.
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“You would order the most expensive items on the menu such as steaks, even for your children who did not eat them, in the full knowledge that you had no intention of paying for them.”
He said the pair had a “well-drilled and tested method for avoiding paying” and had exploited their children.
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“You’d obviously coached them in advance to run away when you’d left them behind as some form of security,” he said.
The judge described it as “criminality for criminality’s sake”.
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