A thief who stole a Help the Heroes charity box has been given ‘one last chance’ by Haverfordwest magistrates.

At a previous hearing Christopher John Brown, aged 23, of Meyler Crescent, Milford Haven, admitted stealing the charity box, with Daniel Jones, from the Spinnaker restaurant on August 5th.

Brown, who originally denied the charges on August 7th, changed his plea to guilty at the start of his trial on October 24th.

Another burglary charge, where an RNLI charity box was stolen from the Galley Cafe, was taken into consideration.

At Brown’s trial, prosecutor David Weale told the court that more than £100 was stolen from the Help for Heroes charity box and £120 was removed from the till.

The restaurant’s fridge and freezer had also been switched off and about £40 was stolen from the RNLI charity box in the Galley Cafe during the same period.

On Wednesday, the court heard Jones had pleaded guilty to the burglaries and implicated Brown, whose fingerprints were discovered on the windowpane.

Brown’s solicitor, Mark Layton, said his client had “underlying mental health difficulties”, and wanted to seek help for them.

Brown was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, along with a supervision order for 18 months, 50 hours’ unpaid work, and ordered to pay costs of £150 and £432.50 compensation.

Brown was also given a curfew and will have to stay at home between 7pm and 7am for the next three months.

Magistrates said: “This is one chance. If you break any of these requirements or commit any offences, you can expect to serve the sentence.”

Brown’s accomplice, who admitted the offence at the first opportunity, was sentenced on a separate occasion to a 12-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work.