'I wrote princess's cheque as a joke'

A man who stole blank cheques signed by Princess Michael of Kent told today how he filled one out for £25,000 and sent it to a friend as a joke.

Kamel Haddouche took the cheques while delivering drink to Kensington Palace. Princess Michael was at Wimbledon but had signed a number of cheques so her personal assistant, Katie Garrod, could pay delivery men.

"The lady took us into the garden to put the boxes there," Haddouche, 40, told Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court. "She left the chequebook out and I stole three of the cheques. I had no idea what I was going to do with them."

He sent one of the cheques made out for £25,000 to his "very gullible" friend Mustapha Boukhalfa, 38, who later tried to pay the cheque into his bank.

Haddouche, from Putney, denies attempted deception. Boukhalfa, from Fulham, denies handling stolen goods and deception. The case continues.