Man who left restaurant without settling £250 bill ordered to pay £2,000

Man who left restaurant without settling £250 bill ordered to pay £2,000 The court has also issued a curfew banning him from leaving home between 6pm and 3am A man who left a restaurant without paying his £250 bill after saying the food was cold and there was a hair in it - even though all the meals had been eaten - has been ordered to pay £2,000. Johnny Delaney, 44, was captured on CCTV in November 2025 leaving Stubbs, a steak and seafood eatery in Ashford, Kent, without paying for the meal he’d just eaten with a woman and two children. Footage showed him walking across a car park with one of the youngsters before driving off in a Volkswagen Passat Estate. Staff at Stubbs say Delaney initially argued his group shouldn’t have to pay because their food was cold and contained a hair. But the excuse was dismissed as no complaints were made to their waiter and all the food had been eaten. Restaurant staff reported the theft to police and posted details on Facebook in an appeal for information, before receiving an anonymous tip-off naming Delaney as the culprit. Kent Police arrested Delaney later that month and he was charged with theft. After pleading not guilty before magistrates and then Canterbury Crown Court earlier this year, the case was listed for trial. But on August 12, the day the hearing was due to begin, Delaney entered a guilty plea at the same court. He was sentenced immediately to a 12-month community order, £252.82 compensation to the restaurant, £1,630 in court costs and £114 in victim surcharge. Delaney has also been made subject to a daily curfew from 6pm to 3am until the beginning of October. In total, the original £252.82 bill resulted in a £1,996.82 financial penalty - almost eight times the amount he initially avoided paying. Following the conviction, Sally Newman, senior general manager at Stubbs Restaurant, said: “As we approach the end of our first five years of opening Stubbs, this successful conviction marks a significant milestone for our team. “This kind of theft places an immense emotional and operational strain on me and my hardworking colleagues. However, thanks to the absolute tenacity and professionalism of the Ashford police service, alongside the massive, unwavering support from our guests and the local community, these incidents have now virtually ceased. “We hope this sends a clear message that such behaviour will not be tolerated in our town.” In the restaurant’s first year of operation, bosses say it suffered up to two incidents a week involving people deliberately leaving without paying.