Man flees restaurant without paying £16 bill that's 'too expensive' – quickly regrets it

Man flees restaurant without paying £16 bill that's 'too expensive' – quickly regrets it Records show that even by the time the dine-and-dash case went to trial, the defendant in question had yet to contribute a single penny towards the cost of the drinks Dine-and-dash incidents — where people order food and drink then leave without paying — have reportedly been on the rise in recent years. In January, a poll of 1,500 adults in Britain by Glass Atlas for card payment provider take payments found that one in 12 admitted to the criminal practice. Dine-and-dash cases can have a serious knock-on effect on hospitality staff. Speaking to the BBC in 2025, Amanda Brighton, director of Joe’s Bar and Grill in Oxford, described an incident in which customers built up a £230 bill, claimed there was a piece of glass in their food, and then tried to leave without settling it. Another incident occurred on August 22, 2025, on Teófilo Llorente Street in the Vello Vigués (Old Vigo) district of Galicia, Spain. After deciding the €19 (£16) bill was too expensive, the unnamed man and three friends fled without paying. In the end, the stunt proved an expensive mistake. The Provincial Court of Pontevedra upheld his fraud conviction, hitting him with a €150 (£125) fine and ordering him to cover the legal costs. In March, Vigo Magistrates’ Court No. 5 had imposed a penalty of €5 (£4.20) per day for one month. Court records show that even by the time the case went to trial, the defendant had yet to contribute a single penny towards the cost of the drinks. He appealed, arguing the deception involved was too minor to amount to fraud and insisting the incident was not driven by any intent to profit. The Provincial Court’s Fifth Section rejected that claim, finding he had ordered and consumed the drinks before deliberately leaving without paying. It was determined that he had failed to demonstrate the amount was unreasonable and had made no attempt to offer payment to the establishment. The judge noted that the man had acted "with a clear intent to make a financial gain". In a similar case, reports recently drew attention to another major dine-and-dash incident in Spain. A British tourist allegedly ran up a €19,000 (£17,000) bill over six weeks at a hotel in Santa Ponça, Calvià, before vanishing without paying. In a different incident, four customers are said to have spent around £100 each before making off without paying. Aruser@s presenter Alba Sánchez said it happened in 2021 at a restaurant in Cerceda. "It happened in 2021 at a restaurant in Cerceda, A Coruña, where four diners showed up and didn't hold back when ordering: octopus, ribeye steaks, Albariño wine, and shots, without a thought for the price." The total reached €447 (approximately £385). The proprietor pursued legal action and five years later, all four were found guilty and handed an eight-month prison term. Restaurant-owner Maria told Alba: "The customers ordered four soft drinks and then proceeded to add various items to the order: bread, a platter of Iberian cured meats, five servings of octopus, two ribeye steaks, two bottles of Albariño wine, two portions of potatoes, and four shots. "They didn't deny anything. They didn't even look at the prices. In fact, I went to the kitchen and told my husband, 'We've just made our day with this table.'". Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings