A best man organising a stag party collected more than £2,000 from a group of the groom's friends to pay for the weekend - and then stole the money.

Lee Francis got the cash from the groom-to-be and each of five friends on the promise that he would arrange the celebratory trip to Croatia.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard that suspicions were aroused when Francis failed to tell any of the "stags" about the accommodation and flight arrangements.

When finally confronted by the groom in July last year, the self-employed web designer claimed to have forgotten who he had booked the holiday with. He promised to return all the money, but none was forthcoming.

Francis, 38, of Wickham Street, Rochester, was arrested after his friends went to the police. He admitted theft of £2,240 between August, 2006, and June, 2007.

Sentencing Francis to a 200-hour unpaid work community order, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said the offence was "mean, in breach of trust and committed over a significant period of time".