A TEENAGER who stole around £1,000 in cash from WH Smith in Oxford Station will only have to pay back half the money he took. 

Alex Parker, 19, admitted stealing the money along with 100 £1 Lottery scratchcards and a £2 Lotto ticket between November 17 and December 15 last year. 

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He appeared at Oxford Magistrates Court on March 4 and was given a community order. 

Parker, of Weldon Road, New Marston, Oxford, will have to attend rehabilitation activity for eight days before the end of the year. 

He was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation.

The court did not indicate what happened to the scratchcards or why Parker was not forced to pay back all his ill-gotten gains.