Luxury Thief: Man Jailed for Dine and Dash Spree

A man with “expensive tastes” who walked out of some of Belfast’s top hotels and restaurants without paying his food and drink bills has been jailed for five months.

Crime Spree
Martin Mongan targeted dining establishments across the city centre in a week-long crime spree. The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to seven counts of making off without payment on dates between November 14 and 21 last year. Offenses were committed at the Hilton and Grand Central Hotels, as well as James Street, Firestone, and Home Restaurants. Mongan, of St Agnes Place in the city, ran up bills totaling in excess of £250.

Expensive Tastes
Prosecution barrister Stephanie Boyd said: “In all cases he left without making payment for the amounts due. He seems to have expensive tastes.” Mongan is already serving a prison sentence for a similar offense committed at the five-star Merchant Hotel just days earlier. On that occasion he exited the premises without settling his £136 food and drink bill after a bank card was declined. Defense Solicitor Eoghan McKenna told the court his client accepted all of the wrongdoing. “Mr Mongan was in a destructive mode at that stage,” he said. District Judge Alan White imposed five months immediate custody for the new offenses. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.