Cops launch hunt for ‘serial dine and dash’ couple arrested after ‘trying to flee pub without paying £62 bill’
AN alleged 'dine and dash' couple accused of fleeing a pub without paying a £62 bill are being hunted by cops.
Essex Police say they want to speak with Daniel Alani and Kerry Stevens, both 38, in connection with a number of investigations into alleged making off without payment and failure to answer police bail.
Alani is around 5ft 8ins in height and described as having a "stocky build", while Stevens is around 5ft in height and of "small build", cops say.
They have previous links to the Southend and Great Wakering areas.
They were first probed by police in connection with a dine and dash incident where regulars stopped a couple believed to be fleeing a pub without paying their £62 bill.
A couple are thought to have fled The Castle Inn after scoffing prawn cocktail, breaded mushrooms and two roast chicken dinners with extra lamb.
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They also drank two cokes, an orange juice and a medium glass of pinot wine, it is claimed.
Landlord Ken Todd, 76, said previously: "For the sake of £62, if they came in and were starving I'd just give them the food.
"The man tried to leave through the back door of the pub which I had already locked and apparently the woman tried to escape by the bathroom window."
Cops want to speak to them in connection with investigations into incidents where individuals "are reported to have failed to pay for taxi fares and restaurant bills, as well as a failure to answer police bail".
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The pair were originally arrested after officers attended an address in Great Wakering, near Southend, Essex on May 2.
They were quizzed on suspicion of three counts of making off without payment and released on conditional bail until late July.
But they didn't answer that bail, prompting Essex Police to to issue an appeal for information about their whereabouts.
A force spokesman said: "Officers are looking to speak to them in connection with ongoing investigations into incidents where individuals are reported to have failed to pay for taxi fares and restaurant bills, as well as a failure to answer police bail."
Police asked for anyone who has information to contact them.
The investigations are being carried out under Operation Raker – a police response targeting theft, assaults and public order offences in the Southend area.
Cops say that, in less than a year, the Op Raker team has secured almost 500 charges and convictions in 55 cases.