Police asks cafe customers to return "windfall dough"

He returned a few hours later when the restaurant was full and tried to give a waitress a 50-pound note (about $ 82), saying it was a tip for the owner, police said. After she declined the money, the man showered customers with 50-pound notes before leaving.

Police said the man, in an outburst of emotional stress ‘withdrew from his bank account and gave away more than 1,000 pounds, most of his savings.’ The man, whom they would not identify, is now being treated for emotional stress at a local hospital.

Nearly a week after the incident, only two cafe customers have returned the money, a police spokesman said.

"No money has been handed to me by the people who received it, and I know who some of them are," Trevor Powell, the cafe owner, said. "I’ve told them there’s an appeal and it’s on their conscience to give it back. I hope they will but I think there will be a lot who won’t and maybe they won’t come in here for a while," he said.

"At first I thought, if it was genuine, good for them forgetting the money, but once the real story transpired, that’s a different thing," Powell said.

He said he plans to hold a Benefit Day at the cafe next week to try to raise money for the man.