A disgraced solicitor arrested on suspicion of a string of “dine and dashes” is wanted by police after skipping bail.
Kerry Ann Stevens, 38, was arrested in May alongside her partner Daniel Alani, also 38, after a couple allegedly left a restaurant without paying a bill of £62.20.
The couple in question are alleged to have fled The Castle Inn in Little Wakering, Essex, after eating a prawn cocktail, breaded mushrooms and two roast chicken dinners with extra lamb. They also drank two cokes, an orange juice and a medium glass of wine, according to Mail Online.
Ken Todd, 76, the landlord, said previously: “For the sake of £62, if they came in and were starving I’d just give them the food.
“The man tried to leave through the back door of the pub which I had already locked and apparently the woman tried to escape by the bathroom window.”
Couple released on conditional bail
Stevens and Alani were questioned on suspicion of three counts of making off without payment and released on conditional bail until late July.
But they did not answer that bail, and now Essex Police has issued an appeal for information about their whereabouts.
A force spokesman said: “Officers are looking to speak to them in connection with ongoing investigations into incidents where individuals are reported to have failed to pay for taxi fares and restaurant bills, as well as a failure to answer police bail.”
Alani is described as being around 5ft 8in and of stocky build, while Stevens is around 5ft and of small build, police said.
They have previous links to the Southend and Great Wakering areas, it is believed.
Stevens, a solicitor who specialised in criminal law, was struck off in March after ordering a £43 takeaway and shutting the door on the delivery driver without paying.
Solicitor slammed door on delivery driver
A hearing of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal was told that in January 2021, Stevens ordered £43.47 worth of food from a kebab shop via the Just Eat app.
A driver arrived at her home address just after 8pm to deliver the food and asked Stevens for payment. But the Essex-based solicitor insisted she had already paid when she placed the order and as the driver rang the restaurant to confirm, she shut the door in his face.
The Essex Grill kebab shop said Stevens had not paid for the food and that the delivery driver knocked on her door for several minutes but she did not answer.
The bill was subsequently deducted from the driver’s salary.
The solicitor, who qualified in 2016, told the police she believed her boyfriend had paid when placing the order online.