A British trickster set a rat loose inside a reputed restaurant in an attempt to wriggle out of paying for his Valentines' Day meal- which cost less than $12 bucks.
Christopher Baker sat down for a solo meal at the Borneo Bistro in the city of Sunderland, England, this past Valentine's Day, the Newcastle Chronicle reported Monday.
He paid the 7.25 pounds- about $11- for his meal, yet instead of leaving he produced a rat from his pocket and released it onto the floor before shouting, according to restaurant surveillance footage reviewed by the Newcastle Chronicle.
The 28-year-old fled the scene before quickly returning to demand a refund. But Kevin Smith, the owner of the upscale, five-star restaurant, smelled a rat.
"It looked like it had just had its hair done," Smith told the newspaper.
The owner further inspected the black and white rodent and noticed it was uncommonly clean. So he picked it up, put it in a box and called pest control officials, who agreed the rat was a pet.
"It's shocking, isn't it? I'm absolutely flabbergasted myself," Smith said, noting the cowardly stunt could have spelled the end of his business. "He sat right underneath by camera which was absolute stupidity. We have never had trouble with pests before, and then one scumbag comes along like that."
Police used the restaurant's surveillance to track Baker down. He pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was ordered to pay the victim $90, plus the original $11 bill he refused to pay.
As for the rat, pest control released it into the wild.
"I was pleased about it," Smith told the newspaper. "I didn't want any harm to come to it."
