A teenager from Hersham who stole a charity box from the counter of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant has been forced to pay £5 in compensation to World Hunger Relief.

Stuart Daly, 18, of Beech Close, pleaded guilty at Staines Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, September 8, to the theft of the charity box belonging to World Hunger.

The court heard Daly, who was 17 at the time, went to the fast food restaurant in Staines High Street at about noon on May 25 with a group of friends, who like him were enrolled at the Staines-based Nacro alternative education scheme.

One of the group, a 16-year-old, who also pleaded guilty to the theft, ordered food, while another youth unchained one of two charity boxes from the counter.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then picked up the box and put it in a carrier bag being held by Daly.

Daly, then left the restaurant with the charity box, but the group’s actions were caught on CCTV, the court heard.

Daly, who on his Facebook page includes as one of his activities “being a g”, slang for gangster, told the court he did not like getting in trouble with the police because it was not “in his nature”.

He said: “I’m very sorry for the crime I committed and it is not like me to do that sort of thing.”

He was also sentenced to a community order, a one year supervision requirement and told to pay £5 in costs.

The 16-year-old boy was handed a three-month referral order and told to pay £35 in costs.