A McDONALDS employee said he stole �700 from the fast food chain because he was struggling to pay off his debts. Jeffrey Headley, who worked at the McDonalds, in Cook Road, Dagenham, was caught on CCTV stealing a bundle of cash left lying in the store s o

A McDONALDS employee said he stole �700 from the fast food chain because he was struggling to pay off his debts.

Jeffrey Headley, who worked at the McDonalds, in Cook Road, Dagenham, was caught on CCTV stealing a bundle of cash left lying in the store's office.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to the theft in July this year, at Barking Magistrates Court last Wednesday and was sentenced to 100 hours unpaid work in the community and ordered to pay �70 costs.

On the CCTV footage the manager of the store is seen placing two bags of money on a table, before leaving the room. Headley, of Bushgrove Road, Dagenham, then walks in with a cardboard box, picks up one of the money bags and walks out again. He hides the money in the box, puts the box in an enclosure outside the building and returns to work.

When interviewed by police, who later found the �700 where Headley had left it, the father-of-two denied stealing the money and said the reason his finger prints were on the bag was because he had moved it to use the computer.

But in court the father-of-two admitted he had stolen the cash and added:

"I saw the money and took the opportunity, because I needed to clear my personal debts. It was a stupid thing to do, which I now regret. I don't normally go around stealing stuff.