A persistent thief today admitted stealing cash from three Poppy Appeal collecting tins after being caught on security cameras.

Drug addict Adrian Holmes, 29, of Giles Road, Littlemore, Oxford, was remanded in custody by Didcot magistrates, who were told he would probably continue to steal after he admitted taking donations for the Royal British Legion’s annual appeal from shops in Wantage and Didcot.

Holmes was caught on CCTV stealing the tin’s contents from Rowes Newsmarket, Wallingford Street, Wantage and arrested after stills from the footage appeared in the Oxford Mail.

He was shown cutting the tin free and shoving it inside his jacket. He is then seen returning the empty tin to the counter.

The CCTV can be seen online at our website oxfordmail.co.uk Last night it emerged that £200 had been donated to the Poppy Appeal — which is being backed by the Oxford Mail this year in a bid to reach a record county total — because of Holmes’s thefts.

Mike Rowe, owner of Rowes Newsmarket, has donated £100 and his two managers, Mike Brown and Christine Markham, a total of £50. An anonymous donor handed over the other £50.

Mr Brown said: “Someone came into the shop with an envelope with £50.

“We didn’t know who it was from, but I think it must have been a local person.

“We just felt we wanted to donate some money. I think other people will probably feel like that too.”

Holmes, 29, admitted three charges of theft of poppy cash.

He struck at Charlton Park Garden Centre, Charlton Road, Wantage, Rowes Newsmarket and the Spar shop at Didcot Parkway railway station on Sunday, as Remembrance parades honouring the nation’s fallen servicemen and women took place.

Cariad Eveson-Webb, prosecuting, told Didcot magistrates: “The defendant went into the stores, removed the boxes from the premises and then returned the boxes to the store.”

She added: “There are substantial grounds that he will commit further offences while on bail. He is a prolific offender.

“He has many, many offences of shoplifting and has been through the courts on many occasions.

“This year alone, he appeared before the court in September, March and February.

“It’s almost a certainty that he will commit further offences.”

Peter Gotch, defending, said Holmes lived with his partner and three-year-old son, and that drugs were the root of his problems.

He added: “He has been addicted to drugs for quite a few years, which he describes as the curse of his life. He said he is now determined to sort himself out.”

Grahame Allen, 52, manager of the Spar shop at Didcot Parkway station, said: “I think everyone is incensed by it.

“We saw nothing until I looked at the CCTV coverage on Monday.

“Then we saw it was all over the front page of the Oxford Mail and we put two and two together and saw it was the same guy.”

Mr Brown added: “It was pretty low stealing from a charity, especially the Poppy Appeal on Remembrance Sunday.”

Phil Stevenson, manager at Charlton Park Garden Centre, said: “I don’t have the words to describe it. I’m disgusted and sickened.”

He estimated that the collectiing tin contained between £35 and £80.

Holmes will be sentenced by Didcot magistrates on November 27.