A mum who fled from a Wagamama restaurant without paying a £277 bill has pleaded guilty to the offence.
Rosemary McDonagh, 23, was out with friends in Ashford, Kent, on January 23, when the group left her and another pal to settle up.
But Maidstone Magistrates Court heard how she used this opportunity to complain about the food and say there was hair in it.
McDonagh ran off without paying before she was later arrested and also questioned about the theft of bedding from a Dunelm store on December 27 last year.
The items – valued at between £150 and £190 – were stolen from the store at the Ashford Retail Park.
McDonagh defended herself in court and said: ‘Back then, between December and April, I was in a bad relationship and my head was all over the place.
‘I did complain [in Wagamama] as I wasn’t happy to pay the bill for them.’
She told the court she is from the travelling community and lives with her two young children and her parents.
She added: ‘I don’t work, I am on benefits and I get £600 Universal Credit a month.
‘I also get child benefits, but that’s for the kids, and I get PIP for my mental health – that’s about £400 to £500 a month.’
In court, she pleaded guilty to the ‘dine and dash’ offence and shoplifiting.
McDonagh avoided jail and was fined £138 for the Wagamama incident and ordered to pay the restaurant £50 compensation for her meal.
She was not made to settle the outstanding tab that had been racked up by her fellow diners.
McDonagh was ordered to pay Dunelm £150 compensation for the bedding she stole but received no separate penalty for that offence.
The chairman of the bench warned her: ‘This must stop or you will be in serious trouble. You have two young children to think about.’
