It was not the meatiest of cases to come before a court when a teenager appeared in the dock to be sentenced for stealing a sausage roll.

Daniel Howe found himself in the predicament because he breached the terms of a suspended sentence by committing the theft at a service station.

Told that the sausage roll cost £3, Judge Philip Statman replied: “Three pounds for a sausage roll? It must have been a gourmet sausage roll.”

The 19-year-old, of Hollytree Avenue, Swanley, was subject to eight months custody suspended for two years for attempted robbery, possessing a knife and battery when caught shoplifting at Wolf garage in Westerham on December 20 last year.

“He was seen to pick up the sausage roll and put it in his pocket,” prosecutor Ian Foinette told Maidstone Crown Court. “He left without paying.

“He said he didn’t have any cash to pay for it. When asked what he had done with it, he said: “I ate it.”

Applying for compensation, Mr Foinette said: “The shopkeeper would appreciate payment for the sausage roll.”

"Three pounds for a sausage roll? It must have been a gourmet sausage roll..." - Judge Philip Statman

Judge Statman said: “One can say it’s only a sausage roll but if you think about it for a moment there are two important features that come out of this.

“It isn’t only just a sausage roll, firstly because someone he is stealing from is working as hard as he possibly can to make an honest living when the economy is going through a difficult time. Stores know their profit is eked away because young people like him come in and do this kind of thing.

“He is in breach of a suspended sentence. He has decided to ignore that. A judge put him on a suspended sentence rather than send him to prison.”

The judge said: “I am not going to send him to prison. I just want to make sure by the time he leaves this court he understands it is not just a sausage roll.

“It is wrong, it is dishonest and someone suffers as a result in the community and that’s not fair to them. Has he got £3 today?”

Told that Howe only had enough money to get home, Judge Statman said: “I am not going to take it off him today or he will skip his rail fare and be back before me again.

“It would be completely over the top to send you to prison for stealing a sausage roll, but I am going to make it the most expensive sausage roll you are ever likely to eat.

“I think that’s fair. You will be fined £25 and pay compensation of £3. Everybody is trying to help you. I know what issues you have got. I will give you six weeks to pay. Before you do any of that I want the £3 paid within seven days.”

Mark Hunsley, for Howe, said: “He can’t really understand why he did it. He doesn’t regard it as a joke. He has successfully completed a drug rehabilitation requirement and he says he is clean of drugs.

“He enjoys activities with the Prince’s Trust. He has been diagnosed with asperger’s and ADHD. He lives with his parents and is on employment support allowance of £200 a fortnight.”