Bumbling dine-and-dash couple commit simple mistake in 'worst crime ever'

CCTV footage has captured the moment a “bumbling” couple allegedly left a top seafood restaurant without paying. The owners of Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar in Cornwall say the couple on camera ate a meal and drank wine before making their escape.

Jamie McLean, who runs the restaurant with his wife Nina, called it the “worst crime ever”. He said the couple looked “really dodgy”, adding: “They ordered a bottle of wine and some food and looked and behaved quite dodgy. They then started discussing various things before complaining that the fish was a bit small as a diversionary tactic… They then drank their bottle of wine and the husband ran off with his hood up, incognito so to speak.”

The woman then quickly followed the man out the door, the restaurant says. But Jamie said they made a mistake by leaving their phone number after calling earlier to ask how busy the restaurant was. “Basically they were just making fun of the man,” he told Cornwall Live.

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He added: “If you were to leave a restaurant, you would make sure they didn't have your phone number and you weren't sitting directly under a security camera with audio recording. This is basically the worst crime ever.”

However, Jamie said the couple ignored his calls when he asked them to come back and pay the bill. He also claims the couple then called but only complained about becoming “Facebook famous” on the restaurant's official page – and one of the alleged offenders commented on the Facebook post describing problems he had with the food.

Jamie said the couple had still not returned to pay the £62 bill. “It wouldn't be August without the chaos,” Jamie added. “It was a total shambles and when they finally answered the phone I said, 'Either come back and pay your bill or you'll be evicted from Cornwall'.”

Although the couple criticised the quality of the food, Jamie is adamant that their behaviour and the discussions that were caught on CCTV meant they were reluctant to pay from the start. However, one positive aspect of the whole thing is the united front that locals and fans of the restaurant have put up, he says. He said people really “stuck together” and called it “pretty sweet”.

The incident was reported to Devon and Cornwall Police. It is the latest in a series of similar incidents in Cornwall after another 'dine and dash' group allegedly fled after a £319 meal at Treganna Castle's restaurant and a pub in Hayle – however these incidents are not believed to be linked to the Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar case.

Cases of 'din-and-dash' hit the headlines on this side of the border in early 2024 when a couple left a series of expensive restaurants without paying. Bernard and Ann McDonagh, from Sandfields in Port Talbot, targeted five restaurants in Swansea, NEath, Port Talbot and Porthcawl.

In total they ate over £1,000 worth of food at the establishments but were identified after CCTV images were posted online. The pair, from Western Avenue, pleaded guilty at Swansea Magistrates' Court to five counts of dishonestly obtaining services. Ann McDonagh was sentenced to 12 months in prison and Bernard McDonagh to eight months in prison.