An Irish family has been awarded £75,000 in damages after a UK pub falsely accused them of leaving without paying a £150 restaurant bill.
Peter and Ann McGirr, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, were publicly shamed by the Horse and Jockey pub in Tideswell, Derbyshire, which posted CCTV footage of them online and condemned their alleged "shocking behaviour" on Facebook.
The couple had dined at the pub with their two children, ordering two 10oz ribeye steaks priced at £27 each and two £15.25 Derbyshire gammon steaks, along with several real ales and lagers.
Although they paid the bill in full, a staff member failed to register the transaction on the till, leading the management to mistakenly believe they had not paid.
Before the mistake was uncovered, the pub had already shared images of the family online. The allegations were then picked up and repeated in four separate news articles, intensifying the reputational harm.
Belfast Crown Court heard that the family suffered "significant embarrassment and reputational damage" as a result of the accusations. Labelled as "dine-and-dashers," they brought a libel case against the pub, arguing that the claims were defamatory and entirely unfounded.
Their barrister, Peter Girvan, told the court: "These articles contained serious and defamatory accusations that the plaintiffs had engaged in dishonest and criminal conduct by deliberately absconding without settling a bill of approximately £150. The allegations were entirely false."
As part of a settlement, the Horse and Jockey agreed to pay €87,000 (£75,000) in damages and cover the family’s legal costs. The court was told that the pub accepted there had been "no basis whatsoever" for the accusations and issued a formal apology.
Speaking outside court, the family’s solicitor, Darragh Carney, said they felt "vindicated" by the outcome and were "very satisfied with the settlement" as compensation for the defamation.
The pub had previously attributed the incident to an "inexperienced member of staff," claiming the employee had taken payment via card but failed to record it in the till. While insisting it was an honest mistake, the management later confirmed the staff member responsible had been dismissed.
In a statement issued in July last year, the pub said: "We want to sincerely apologise to the people involved because we have now learnt that they did in fact pay for their meal. There was no dishonesty involved from our staff – it was an honest mistake."
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
Comments