Dine-and-dash scammer appears in court
An unemployed man arrested at a London restaurant has appeared in court accused of running a scam of visiting high-end eateries and walking out without paying.
27-year-old Janis Nords was arrested at L'Oranger in St James, after being detained by staff when attempting to leave without paying a bill worth £1,021.73.
A woman in her 20s was later arrested at an address in Stoke Newington in north London but released without charge.
Nords, a Latvian national, admitted nine counts of not paying for goods and services at City of Westminster magistrates' court totalling £5,000. He will be sentenced at a later date.
The case came to prominence earlier this week after L'Autre Pied in Marylebone fell victim to the fraudsters, who dined at the Michelin-starred restaurant, ordering two bottles of Champagne and food, racking up a bill of £572. Before eating their desserts, the pair asked for their coats to go outside for a cigarette but never returned.
It later emerged that other high-end London restaurants had also been hit by the scam including the Michelin-starred Glasshouse in Kew, south west London, where a bill of £349 went unpaid, and the five-star Connaught hotel, where a bill of £965.40 was left unpaid.
Other restaurants affected include Pearl at the five-star Renaissance Chancery Court hotel in the City and Le Cercle in Chelsea.
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