THIS is the moment a thief was captured on camera brazenly stealing a Help for Heroes charity box from a pub in Hounslow.
Tripurari Sobhai walked out of The Sun pub, in Hanworth Road, Hounslow, with the collection box tucked under his arm last Monday, July 8, at 12.40pm.
After noticing the box, believed to have contained more than £100, was missing, landlady Helen Rayner posted this image of the shameless act on Facebook.
Within a few hours, it had been seen by more than 11,000 people and Ms Rayner had been sent the culprit's name, address and phone number by outraged customers.
She passed the information on to police, who arrested the 29-year-old last Friday (July 12).
Sobhai was charged with theft the same day and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Saturday, where he admitted the offence.
He was fined £100 and asked to pay a £20 victim surcharge but the judge ruled he should not have to stump up the cash as he had already spent a night in custody.
Ms Rayner praised her customers and the police for tracking the culprit down.
"The number of people who viewed the photo on Facebook shows how strongly people feel," she added.
"He's lower than low to do something like this, especially with what's been happening in this country recently."
She added that the box, money from which goes towards helping wounded soldiers, had been returned but it was empty.
She believes it contained at least £100 when it was taken as staff had recently emptied the pub's fountain of coins and added them to the container.
