Epidemic of ‘dine and dash’ crimes are putting businesses at risk of bankruptcy, top judge warns

“DINE and dash” crimes have become an epidemic that is putting businesses at risk of bankruptcy, a judge warned yesterday.

He spoke out after hearing how Pat O’Toole, 41, left a number of restaurants this summer without paying — costing them hundreds of pounds.

O’Toole was in a group of four who ran up an unpaid £106 bill in August at the Cornish Arms in Hayle, Cornwall.

Two weeks later, he was caught on CCTV saddling the four-star Tregenna Castle Hotel in St Ives with £312 worth of unpaid food and drink.

Truro crown court heard he was also in a group of six who drove off laughing after skipping a £403 bill in another part of the country.

When he was arrested, he was in a stolen £25,000 caravan in a hotel car park in Hayle.

The dad of three, from Hayes, West London, has spent three months on remand in jail.

He admitted handling stolen goods and making off without payment — and said he was ashamed of his behaviour.

Judge Simon Carr sentenced him to eight months, suspended for two years, and ordered him to do 100 hours’ unpaid work.

He said: “There is an epidemic of the problem in Cornwall, ordering meals and putting businesses in danger of facing bankruptcy.

"These offences are taken incredibly seriously.”