Feasting food thieves thwarted by Facebook

THE YOOF OF TODAY struggles sometimes with its reputation as hoodies and yobs, and a group of Aussie teens left nothing to the imagination when they ran out of a restaurant without coughing up.

The plan, they thought, was flawless. After dining on a lavish feast of oysters, trout and red emperor with some expensive wines the perpetrators casually stepped out for a cigarette, never to return.

Furious restauranteur Peter Leary was left with a hefty $A520 bill when the five scoundrels scampered after the feast so he used their virtual world to track them down.

Leary donned his Sherlock outfit and began investigating – remembering one of the diners had asked about a former waitress, he contacted her, she then suggested they look through some contacts on Facebook.

Sure enough, he found him: "We searched a few names and there in front of us his face came up,” Leary told Reuters.

Leary also discovered the name of the man’s girlfriend, who was also present on the night of the incident along with the man’s job description, which turned out to be working in a nearby restaurant.

On contacting the restaurant, where both the man and his girlfriend worked, the diner turned up within hours fitting both the bill and a generous tip for the staff.

The manager of the other restaurant contacted Leary afterwards to say that he had fired the pair.

Leary said he has no wish to take the matter further but did say, "On this occasion I guess you could say that being on Facebook backfired for them."

So, if you’re planning on some kind of scam then be sure to remember, Facebook could drop you right in it. µ