A man who asked for his money back after losing �200 in a gaming machine in a Clayhall betting shop and then hit it with a stool when staff refused, has been fined.

Abbas Sharif Mohamed, of Navestock Crescent, Woodford Green, pleaded guilty to causing �400 of damage at the Ladbrokes, in Claybury Broadway.

Elizabeth Ajayi, from the Crown Prosection Service, told Barkingside Magistrates’ Court on Friday: “On the 20th March 2012 at Ladbrokes, the defendant was using the gaming machine and lost �200.”

She said he told staff he’d lost his money and wanted it back, adding: “He was then told by staff that it wasn’t possible to get the money back because that was what the gaming machine was about.

“He then picked up his stool and hit the machine.”

The court heard that the 32-year-old, who is on income support, had been given the �200 by his brother.

His Somali wife, and his child, live in the Netherlands, and have been denied a UK visa and he had planned to use the money to travel to see them.

Mohamed’s solicitor told the court that he had planned to boost the money by gambling it but now regretted his actions.

He pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property valued under �5,000.

He was order to pay �200 compensation, was fined �75, ordered to pay a �15 victim surcharge, and �65 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.