Unpaid bill of Sh5,000 for alcohol and food lands Nairobi man in court
A man who allegedly failed to pay a bill of Sh5,420 he incurred for alcohol and food that he consumed at a hotel along Jogoo Road in Nairobi is facing charges of obtaining credit by false pretenses contrary to section 316 (a) of the penal code.
Mr Simon Mbugua is accused of obtaining the credit from waitress Faith Ngina who served him and his friend at the Oryx Hotel in Hamza area, while pretending he would pay in an incident that happened on July 19, 2023.
The waitress served the accused person and his friend four bottles of Balozi beer, a bottle of Viceroy brandy, a bottle of Guinness and a half bottle of Richot brandy.
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Mr Mbugua was also served with a half kilo of beef, two plates of ugali and a plate of vegetables, which the accused failed to pay for upon being requested to settle the bill.
Mr Mbugua is also accused of stealing a mobile phone worth Sh15,000 belonging to the hotel on the same date. He is said to have committed the offences jointly with a friend who escaped and is still at large.
The accused person and his accomplice went to the hotel around midday posing as customers and ordered for alcoholic drinks and food which were served to them by Ms Ngina and her colleagues.
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They also ordered beer for another customer at the hotel. Hours later, Ms Ngina noticed that Mr Mbugua’s friend had left the hotel and requested the suspect to settle the bill.
Mr Mbugua claimed he had no money and he was waiting for his friend to come back and settle the bill. The accused person allegedly made an attempt to escape as Ms Ngina served other customers but she saw him heading to the exit and raised an alarm and Mr Mbugua was arrested by the hotel security.
He was escorted to the Jogoo Police Station where he was detained as investigations went on.
The suspect denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Francis Kyambia of Makadara Law Courts and was released on a bond of Sh50,000 and an alternative cash bail of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on September 4, 2023 before hearing starts on January 24, 2024.