Thieves Who Stole Prince William's Holiday Pictures Branded "Dumb And Dumber" By Judge

Thieves who stole Britain's Prince William's holiday pictures have been branded "dumb and dumber" by a judge. Charlie Ewins and Leon Sesay were ordered to each carry out 100 hours of community service and pay £125 [$210] costs by Recorder Martyn Barklem at Kingston Crown Court after pleading guilty to the theft at an earlier hearing.

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The two men had tried to sell the memory card to Britain's The Sun newspaper, asking for £50,000 [$83,000] for the pictures of William and girlfriend Kate Middleton holidaying on Mustique, claiming they had found it in a gutter after Kate's sister Pippa had her car broken into.

The pair had turned down an offer of £25,000 [$40,000] for the photos, and was reported to police by the newspaper.

Referring to the Jim Carrey movie "Dumb and Dumber," the recorder said: "Counsel described you as 'Dumb and Dumber'. That is not that inaccurate a characterization of you both."

"You are essentially fools for whom things have spiraled out of control.

"I suppose years ago you might have been sent to the Tower of London, but of course cameras and memory cards did not exist in those days."

Susan Meek, representing Ewins, described the childhood friends as "Dumb and Dumber, or Bill and Ted on an excellent adventure that day.

She added: "He feels he has been extremely foolish and silly and stupid, and regrets his attendance at the court today."

Daniel Darnbrough, representing the other defendant blamed Sesay's actions on mourning the loss of his father, who had died of lung cancer two weeks before the theft.

He added: "He clearly wasn't in the right frame of mind and was still grieving. When he found the card, you can only imagine what began to run through his mind. The temptation must have been enormous."

"He had outstanding debt. He would have had the devil on his shoulder telling him that would be cleared away with no problem whatsoever. With that phone call to The Sun, the avalanche began. Mr Sesay is not in any way an experienced criminal. He made a stupid decision that day."

"These are two young boys who went on an adventure. Unfortunately, it wasn't the happiest one for them."