Oldbury poppy collection box theft pair branded 'despicable' as they are jailed for 12 months

Adam Tookey, aged 22, and his older brother Karl, 25, were captured on camera swiping a red appeal tin from the Holiday Inn in Oldbury.

The brothers were spotted entering the hotel at 12.30pm last Wednesday before they snatched the charity box from the front desk and fled.

Hours later they stole a second collection tin from the Britannia Hotel in Birmingham city centre.

Jailing them, bench chairman David Payne said: "We have taken time to consider this matter and we feel it is so serious the time for custody applies."

Mike O'Mahoney, defending, said: "I spoke to them at length and they are ashamed of what they have done." The brothers, of Thornfield Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, were caught after police appealed for information on social media.

Amy Sanders, 22, of the same address, pleaded not guilty to theft. She was bailed and ordered to return to Wolverhampton Crown Court on February 11, 2014.

The Tookeys were caught when they were recognised by a security guard in New Street, Birmingham city centre on Saturday – and were captured being arrested by an eagle-eyed Express & Star reader.

Eddie Brown, branch chairman of the Smethwick Royal British Legion, said: "I think the sentence should have been heavier than that.

"Servicemen and woman ensure our freedom every day and this is no way to repay them. I fear for those brothers in prison because inmates will not be impressed by what they've done."

Pc Wendy Wright, from West Midlands Police, added: "These were really despicable crimes that not only disrespected our armed forces but the honour in which all our servicemen and women have served our country."