FOOD FELON
Serial dine & dasher jailed for guzzling 9 pints, 3 double vodkas & bowl of chips before trying to skip out on £95 bill
He was caught just days after an 'identical' offence
A SERIAL dine and dasher has been jailed after he downed nine pints and three double vodkas and gobbled a bowl of chips before trying to skip out on the bill.
Builder Anthony Lamont attempted to duck out without paying the £95 bill he’d rung up at The Royal hotel in Deal, Kent.
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Just five days earlier, the 43-year-old swerved prison for an “identical” offence at an Italian restaurant in Rochester.
Then, he racked up a £100 bill after ordering a seafood linguine which he washed down with Jack Daniels.
He told staff at Don Vincenzo he had no way of paying the tab.
CCTV footage showed the moment police arrived at the Medway restaurant on June 10 to arrest Lamont who then appeared in front of magistrates two days later.
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That time he was spared jail and given a suspended sentence but just five days later he had struck again, setting his sights on The Royal on June 17.
He was arrested and appeared at Folkestone magistrates the following day where he admitted theft and breaching his suspended sentence.
Neil Sweeney, prosecuting, said in court: “He turned up at The Royal Hotel at about 12.30pm and ordered a bowl of chips and three pints of lager and said someone, his partner, was going to join him.”
Mr Sweeney added that Lamont then ordered another six pints of Spitfire, some vodkas and more food.
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He said: “He was there until about 10.30pm and there were two bills which came to £95.80, but he said he had no cash to pay and asked staff to let him leave to get some money.
“He also waved a card around, which was for a hotel room.”
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Lamont claimed a friend had been staying at the hotel and the bill could be put on his room tab.
But when checks were carried out, the hotel had no record of that person having a reservation or ever checking in.
Staff prevented Lamont from leaving and the cops were called.
He was arrested and later charged with theft, which he admitted when he appeared in court the next day.
The court heard he had targeted The Royal while on a suspended sentence for an “identical” “dine and dash” at Don Vincenzo.
Mr Sweeney told the court Lamont had gone to the Italian restaurant on June 10 and told staff someone would be joining him.
Mr Sweeney said: “He ordered some Jack Daniels and cokes and sat there drinking them.
“Then he was told there was only an hour left to order food from the kitchen, so he ordered some seafood linguine.
“But when it was time to pay the £100 bill, he had no means to pay.
“He told them his girlfriend had his cash card. It’s very much identical.”
When Lamont appeared before magistrates on June 12 he admitted the theft at Don Vincenzo.
He was given a 120-day prison sentence, suspended for a year and was ordered to pay the restaurant £100 in compensation.
Britain's worst 'dine and dashers'
In May this year, Britain’s worst “dine and dashers” were jailed after skipping out on restaurant bills worth more than £1,000.
Bernard McDonagh, 41, and his wife Ann McDonagh, 39, were caught on camera striking at a string of eateries across Wales.
They were jailed for a total of 20 months after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud at Swansea Magistrates' Court.
The pair also admitted four shoplifting offences after swiping £1,017.60 worth of goods from Tommy Hilfiger, Sainsbury and Tesco.
Ann McDonagh pleaded guilty to a further count of obstructing a police officer.
But just six days later, he was back in court for the incident at The Royal.
This time he was jailed for 200 days.
Lamont, who had earlier refused legal representation, was asked by the Deputy District Judge Nicola Fleck what had led him to commit the offences.
Lamont said: “I work in construction, building work, and I’ve been working in Hertfordshire and Bournemouth, all over, and my cards are missing - my bank cards were stolen.
“I can’t stop them [being used] with the bank as I’ve not got any ID and money keeps going out. I do have a few problems.”
Judge Fleck said: “You ordered a lot of food and a lot of drink and just didn’t pay for it.
“The offence you had been given the suspended sentence for was basically identical - you had drink and food and didn’t pay for it.
“You have a long history of dishonesty and committed the other offence within days of that suspended sentence.
“You say your bank cards have gone missing, but it’s really not working is it?
“There is no reason why I shouldn’t activate the suspended sentence, so I am jailing you for 120 days for the breach and I am also jailing you for 80 days for the theft offence, and that will be served consecutively.
“So you are being jailed for 200 days - you’ll serve 100 days.”
Lamont, from Poole, Dorset, was also ordered to pay £95.80 in compensation to The Royal.
According to the prosecutor, the hotel’s owner had given a victim impact statement where he said incidents of this sort had a detrimental effect on small businesses.
Dan White, the hotel's holding manager, told The Sun Online: "The guy came in around lunchtime and had a meal, fish and chips I think.
"He then proceeded to drink and drink and then started on the spirits.
"Our duty manager told him 'you've had enough' and he started demanding a room.
"But she stood her ground and said he had to pay his bill first.
"The police were called and he was eventually arrested."
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Mr White added: "We don't tolerate dine and dash.
"I hope this sends a message out. We wanted to make a stand."
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