A FORMER chef racked up an astonishing £3,500 bill on Chinese takeaways and crates of beer for his brothers and friends.

Shane Wiggins, 19, of Lansdown Road, Canterbury, ordered hundreds of dishes from the Lucky Star restaurant in Aylesham.

They ate the food for 12 days while the teenager's mother was in hospital in March and April this year.

But magistrates at Canterbury heard that Wiggins was paying for the orders with cheques that bounced. It was then that the police were called in.

Wiggins admitted defrauding the restaurant out of £3,563 in nine separate orders.

Scott Neilson, defending, told the court that Wiggins had bought the takeaway food for his two younger brothers.

He said Wiggins “got carried away” and started ordering beer and food for his friends.

Mr Neilson also told the court Wiggins had lost his job as a chef in January. “There was nothing sophisticated about this,” he added.

Wiggins will be sentenced by the magistrates on Thursday, August 30.