A teenager replaced money with counterfeit notes while working at Twickenham stadium after his dad was kidnapped and held to ransom in Nigeria.

Chisom Izuchukwu, 19, formerly of Maynard Close in Erith, was working at the Final Whistle bar when he was found in possession of £2,980 worth of counterfeit notes.

Defence solicitor Emily Cook said he had been trying to help his family, who were dealing with the kidnap of his father, who was snatched while in Nigeria working for a children’s charity.

Izuchukwu’s family were in dire straits after paying his ransom and hospital bills, totalling £55,000, the court heard.

The student told police he had taken £3,000 in counterfeit notes from a man who he refused to identify, after finding it hard to find work.

He said he intended to swap £1,000 of the forged notes and return the rest to the man.

Miss Cook explained to the court that Izuchukwu’s father was finding it hard to find work in the UK and his mother was working part-time while studying to be a nurse. His siblings were just 12 and 18 years old, so the family did not have a lot of money.

Miss Cook said: “Feeling the burden of being the eldest Mr Izuchukwu felt he needed to provide for the family.

“It’s this that prompted him to stupidly agree to use counterfeit currency. He apologises to the court for his great stupidity.”

Izuchukwu was arrested on March 10, during the England v Italy RBS Six Nations match.

Staff discovered the theft when they found £200 of counterfeit notes during a routine check while counting money.

Hundreds of pounds worth of extra counterfeit currency was found at the bar.

Following the case, Izuchukwu’s father was tearful about the sentence, saying his son was “such a lovely, lovely boy”.

He said the education and law system needed to help young people more, because they often did silly things without thinking.

He said: “When the law is with them this can be prevented. The system must have a way of educating them better – to help my son, but everybody as well.”

He hoped to promote his programme he was working on, Heart to Heart Youth Outreach, which aims to help young people prepare for future employment.

He was jailed for two years and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge at Kingston Crown Court on May 23.