Family wrongly accused of pub dine & dash and awarded £75,000 ‘are MILLIONAIRES who rejected pleas to drop lawsuit’

A well-respected family in the UK was recently awarded compensation of $100,000 by a restaurant that had publicly accused them of leaving without settling the bill.

In July of last year, Peter and Ann McGirr, along with their children Peter Jr and Carol, visited The Horse & Jockey Inn in the Peak District, England. It was a pretty uneventful affair; the family ordered ribeye and gammon steaks and washed them down with ales and lagers before leaving for their home in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

Only shortly after their departure, The Horse & Jockey Facebook page posted a video of the McGirrs’ allegedly leaving the establishment without paying the £150 ($200) bill.

The family was soon making national headlines for allegedly dining and dashing, which negatively impacted their otherwise great reputation, so they found themselves with no choice but to sue the inn to clear their name.

(CCTV footage shows the McGirr family having a meal at the Horse and Jockey pub.Credit: Facebook / The Horse And Jockey)

(The family seen leaving from the pub restaurant.Credit: Facebook / The Horse And Jockey)

(The Horse and Jockey pub in the Peak District.pCredit: Google Maps)

They ordered £27 10oz ribeye steaks and two £15.25 Derbyshire gammon steaks, washed down with several real ales and lagers.

However, those allegations were later revealed to be false, prompting the family to sue the pub owner.

The McGirrs had paid their bill in full, but a member of staff at the pub had forgotten to ring the transaction through the till.

The pub said that the error was caused by an "inexperienced member of staff" who took a card payment but forgot to put it through the till.

The millionaire family sued the pub for libel based on the "serious and defamatory accusations".

Millionaire McGirrs are among the richest people living in County Tyrone.

The family run and own McGirr Engineering, an internationally renowned company that manufactures block making machines for the construction industry.

Pub landlord John Watson is said to have flown to Belfast to apologise to the McGirrs and even offered them a complementary meal and stay at his pub in return for dropping the lawsuit.

A source told Daily Mail that the family didn't accept the free services and instead pursued a lawsuit because of their "wealth and excellent reputation".

In the end, The Horse & Jockey Inn ended up settling for £75,000 ($100,000) before any evidence could be presented in court, and also apologized for the distress they called the McGirrs. In hindsight, maybe they should have just taken the £150 loss.

Ref: Family wrongly accused of pub dine & dash and awarded £75,000 ‘are MILLIONAIRES who rejected pleas to drop lawsuit’ Photo Credit- The Horse & Jockey, Google Maps