Homeless man jailed after spending six hours at Frankie & Benny’s dining on crab and meatballs then refusing to pay £50 bill
A HOMELESS man has been jailed after he spent more than six hours eating in a Frankie and Benny’s and refused to pay the bill.
Paul Rockett, 64, ordered dishes including crab bites, penne meatballs and a peach sundae at a Cambridge branch of Frankie & Benny’s, Cambridgeshire Police said.
He washed them down with drinks including two double whiskeys and two bottles of cider, with the bill totalling £52.91.
When presented with the bill he refused to hand the money over claiming it showed an incorrect date, police said.
Rockett, who was also convicted of failing to comply with a sex offender’s notification requirement, was jailed for 34 weeks and given a two-year order banning him from entering any restaurant in Cambridge without the means to pay.
He entered the eatery at 4.40pm on December 27 and left at 11pm when the restaurant manager called site security.
Rockett was later interviewed by Cambridgeshire police and claimed he went to the restaurant “to survive”, the force said.
He was found guilty of making off without payment during an earlier trial at Cambridge Crown Court, police said.
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He was sentenced on Friday after being found guilty of breaching an order banning him from entering any restaurant in Cambridge without the means to pay.
PC Brad Munday said: “Rockett never had any intention, or means, to pay for his food and knew the consequences of dining in Frankie & Benny’s.
“It’s regrettable he’s found himself in this position but, simply put, he broke the law.”
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