Four hungry men flee pub without paying £100 lunch bill in carefully-planned operation – without realising they were under the nose of CCTV camera the whole time
- Group took off without paying at The Goldcroft Inn in South Wales on Tuesday
- CCTV footage shows the men leaving separately with two making a run for it
- Pub manager Rachel Cullinane is appealing for others to watch out for group
- Gwent Police said incident has been reported and ‘officers are making enquiries’
This is the moment four hungry men fled a pub without paying a £100 lunch bill in a carefully-planned operation.
Bosses at The Goldcroft Inn in Caerleon, South Wales, were left stunned at the four secretly taking off without paying the £93.60 tab – all while under the nose of a CCTV camera.
Footage shows the group sitting around a table on their phones before leaving separately, with two men seen making a run for it once they are outside.
The pub is now appealing for others to watch out for the group who appeared to have gone to slick planning to carry out the scheme on Tuesday.
CCTV footage shows the four men sat around a table before they secretly made off without paying their £93.60 lunch bill at The Goldcroft Inn in Caerleon, South Wales, on Tuesday
One man stands up before members of the group are seen leaving separately in the footage. The plan was ‘all very well co-ordinated’, said pub manager Rachel Cullinane
Pub manager Rachel Cullinane said it was ‘all very well co-ordinated’.
She said: ‘They arrived separately in two cars and ate – three courses, extra sides and everything.
‘When they were finished, one of them walked out. Obviously we were busy and didn’t think anything of it.
‘He sat in his van and then after a little while another one of them walked out, and as soon as he did that, the first guy reverses and drives off.
‘Eventually the two others walk out of the restaurant through the one-way system we have in place, and you hear them saying ‘oh we’ll pay now, he’s just gone to the toilet.
‘And the minute they get out the door, they start running down the road.’
She said they were devastated when they realised what had happened at a time when hospitality businesses are already struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Cullinane added: ‘We just couldn’t believe it.
Two of the men can be seen making a run for it once they are outside of the pub in South Wales. The pub is now appealing for others to watch out for the group
The Goldcroft Inn (pictured). Staff at the pub realised the group had made a ‘schoolboy error’ in sitting right under the nose of the pub’s CCTV cameras
‘We’ve got our hands tied behind our back constantly already, trying to do everything we can every time the rules change.
‘We are the safest industry – you look at the likes of Primark on Saturday and you think people could be in here where it’s so much easier to social distance, and safer.’
However, staff at the pub realised the group had made a ‘schoolboy error’ in sitting right under the nose of the pub’s CCTV cameras.
She said: ‘We have the information we need, we saw everything’, adding that police were aware of the issue.
A spokesman for Gwent Police said: ‘We received a call reporting that four men had attended the Goldcroft Inn in Caerleon, eaten a meal and left without paying.
‘Officers are making enquiries.’