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Belgian man who skipped 100 restaurant bills is killed Belgian man who skipped 100 restaurant bills is killed
(about 1 hour later)
He was an unrepentant gastronomic freeloader, from lobster right up to the after-dinner brandy, always enjoying the bounty to the fullest. He was a “happy-go-lucky” guy who was notorious for spicing up life on benefits in the medieval Belgian town of Ghent by strolling into a restaurant, calmly ordering lobster washed down with the finest brandy or some other gastronomic delight and then walking out without paying the bill.
Titus Clarysse was infamous in and around the northern Belgian town of Ghent for walking into any restaurant of his choosing, ordering whatever his tummy and palate craved and walking out without paying. But, after 100 or so incidents spread over a five-year
“Curse him? Maybe. But kill him? That makes no sense,” said Tim Joiris, head of the Ghent region restaurant and hotel federation. spree, Titus Clarysse has turned up dead, prompting police to launch an
Two days after the 35-year-old Clarysse was found dead in his apartment, investigators on Thursday were looking for suspects in what spokeswoman Annemie Sirlippens called “a case of murder or manslaughter.” investigation of “murder or manslaughter”.
Newspapers reported Clarysse was stabbed — a detail police would not confirm — on Monday night. There was no immediate indication of the motive and Sirlippens refused to provide more details. Newspapers reported that he had been stabbed, but police
Clarysse's gastronomic past, though, was the stuff of lore. refused to confirm this and there was no immediate indication of the motive.
“We are talking about 100 incidents spread over several convictions,” Sirlippens said, and at least a half-decade of gastronomic and financial excess. However, his past as an unrepentant freeloader is almost
Joiris knows, since he had enough restaurant owners complain. “It was trouble for everyone. And what's worse, for long nobody knew how really to deal with it.” certainly a focus of the investigation and questions on detective’s minds will
Restaurants in Ghent, a medieval university town with gabled fronts and terraces on cobblestones, attract an international and varied clientele. surely include: Did he push a hot-headed chef too far, was he killed by a
“In the end, we knew his face, but you know, on a busy terrace in summer, full of people, he knew how to blend in,” Joiris said. keenly sharpened Sabatier and just what was his last meal?
Several convictions did not stop him and tales of freeloaders being forced to do the dishes “are a myth,” Joiris said. “He did it all, the grand restaurants, the terraces. He really tried them all.” Tim Joiris, head of the Ghent region restaurant and hotel
Clarysse was called a “tafelschuimer” — someone who takes everything, even the crumbs, off the table. federation, struggled to believe anyone could have gone so far.
De Standaard newspaper reported he was living on municipal welfare and often seemed to have the wrong kind of friends. It was unclear whether his death was linked to his freeloading. “Curse him? Maybe. But kill him? That makes no sense,” he
“We are not talking about an aggressive guy. He was just happy-go-lucky about it,” Joiris said. And Clarysse never held back. said.
“He was asking for it all — the whole menu,” Joiris said, chuckling in remembrance. Detectives might do well to speak to Mr Joiris, as restaurant owners would often come to him to complain.
“He would sit and wait after the meal — another beer, a brandy.” “It was trouble for everyone. And what's worse, for long
AP nobody knew how really to deal with it,” he said.
“In the end, we knew his face, but you know, on a busy
terrace in summer, full of people, he knew how to blend in.
“He did it all, the grand restaurants, the terraces. He
really tried them all.”
Mr Clarysse was a “tafelschuimer” — someone who takes
everything, even the crumbs, off the table.
“He was asking for it all — the whole menu,” Mr Joiris said
with a laugh. “He would sit and wait after the meal — another beer, a brandy.
“We are not talking about an aggressive guy. He was just
happy-go-lucky about it.”
Mr Joiris said that tales of people being forced to do the
dishes if they could not afford to pay were “a myth”.
Restaurants in Ghent, a medieval university town with gabled
fronts and terraces on cobblestones, attract an international and varied
clientele.
Police spokeswoman Annemie Sirlippens said the 35-year-old
Clarysse was found dead in his apartment on Monday night. She said they were
looking for suspects in what she called “a case of murder or
manslaughter”. 
On his exploits in restaurant, she said: “We are talking
about 100 incidents spread over several convictions.”
De Standaard newspaper reported he was living on municipal
welfare and often seemed to have what the paper described as the wrong kind of
friends.
The website Deredactie.be said that Mr Clarysse’s body had
been found by his father. It added that Mr Clarysse had been given a six-month
prison sentence and a 1,650-euro fine for failing to pay restaurant bills.