You could have been lynched: Judge

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Three offenders who stole a poppy day collection bucket last month headed straight to McDonald's to spend some of the stolen cash, police say.

One of them was told by the judge yesterday that if it had been Australia she would have been "lynched". Miria Wikohika appeared in Whanganui District Court on one charge of theft for her part in the incident.

She pleaded guilty.

On April 17, she and a friend went to New World on Victoria Ave where an elderly woman was selling Anzac poppies to fundraise for the RSA.

The friend approached the woman, asking how much the poppies cost before seizing the collection bucket and running away, meeting up with Wikohika and the other friend further away, said police prosecutor Sergeant Stephen Butler.

There was about $300 in the bucket, none of which was recovered.

Wikohika told police she knew her friend was going to steal from New World, but thought it would be chocolate.

Judge Dugald Matheson said he was in Sydney at the time of the April 17 offending.

"It's a big thing over there," he told Wikohika, referring to Anzac Day commemorations.

"You're very lucky you didn't raid a tin over there, because you would have been lynched.

"This is a serious matter, because it shows disrespect to servicemen." The elderly lady who was collecting at the time was "traumatised" by the theft but uninjured, said Mr Butler.

One of the other two offenders was being dealt with in the youth court. It was unclear whether the third person would be charged.

Wikohika was remanded to May 27 for a restorative justice conference to be held.