BANANA TEEF GET 5 YEARS

Serial thief goes bananas … Man convicted eight times in five years for stealing fruit

Whenever Orville Stone sees bananas he steals them. He has now been convicted eight times in five years for stealing the fruit.

Stone, before being sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for praedial larceny, yesterday told the court that he can’t help himself whenever he sees bananas.

The man, who is otherwise called Tumpa, of Bog Walk, St Catherine, told Parish Judge Jacqueline Wilcott that he has a drug problem which makes him a kleptomaniac.

“I want to stop taking people things, Maam, especially di banana,but mi just can’t stop although mi try,” Stone said in St Catherine Parish Court.

“All di while mi just tek a few bunch. I want to move from di area so mi can stop it,” Stone said.

The judge noted that Stone was convicted twice in 2015, and five times prior to that – all for stealing bananas.

Something meaningful

“I am going to give you sometime to think and I hope that you will able to do something meaningful with your life as stealing cannot be tolerated,” Wilcott said before handing down the sentence.

The court heard that on June 24, 2016, Stone was caught on camera stealing several bunches of bananas from the Tulloch Farm in Bog Walk, St Catherine.

A report was made at the Bog Walk Police Station and following a probe, he was charged with praedial larceny by District Constable Evan Chambers.