La Dolce Vita, a Scottish restaurant in East Kilbride, has released footage of a couple who “dined and dined” while avoiding an £80 bill. On October 20, the couple enjoyed a lavish three-course meal by ordering two starters, three mains and two desserts. However, instead of settling the matter, they slyly walked out of the premises, pretending to have a cigarette. Surveillance footage shows the man and woman smoking outside before leaving separately. In an attempt to deceive the staff, the woman left her handbag behind, and suggested she would return. However, upon investigation, the bag was found empty, exposing the couple’s fraudulent scheme.
The restaurant is now trying to identify the couple and recover the stolen money.
Here is the video:
A spokesperson for the restaurant said they were “furious and outraged” by the situation.
Co-owner Heather Scuotto told daily record: ”It’s extremely sad, we are absolutely furious. We are a small family business, we have been open for 10 years and moved to this new restaurant five years ago. We understand that in the current environment, people may struggle to buy outside food, but this was pre-planned. They walked out and left an empty handbag lying there. The police feel that this is all part of their conspiracy. “To think that they would come into a restaurant with that in mind is appalling.”
Police Scotland said: “At approximately 5.45pm on Sunday, October 20, police received a report of a burglary at a premises in the Main Street area of East Kilbride. “The investigation into the circumstances is in the initial stages.”
The La Dolce Vita incident is not an isolated case, as it follows a similar series of “dine and dash” crimes earlier this year. In one notable case, a married couple, Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, Wales, were jailed after admitting leaving the restaurant without paying a bill of more than £1,000 (Rs 1,05,857). Was put in jail. according to BBC, Bernard and Ann McDonagh went to five restaurants in the Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Porthcawl areas of Wales and racked up bills of more than £1,000 before leaving without paying.
Judge Paul Thomas Casey said they were motivated by “pure and utter greed” and that the food and water incidents were “carefully pre-planned to a specific pattern”. The judge said his use of children, who waited in the restaurant while they pretended to go to the cashpoint, was “brutally exploitative”.
