Pineapple thief told to pay fine

A COURT has ordered a man to pay a court fine of K300 or face six months in jail for stealing a bag of pineapples at Lae’s Main Market.
Robert Ottom, 19, from Munum village in Morobe’s Huon Gulf district appeared before Lae District Court Magistrate Tera Dawai yesterday for stealing a bag containing 10 pineapples.
Police prosecutor Constable Moi Gura told the court that on Nov 26 around 7am at Lae’s Main Market, the complainant Dex Juddy bought the market goods and left her pineapple bag at the main gate and took the other goods into the market.
When she returned to get the pineapple bag it was not there. She searched for the bag but could not find it.
It was alleged that Juddy then decided to go check on her bag at Aigris market at Lae’s main wharf. It was there that she saw the accused selling her pineapples.
Upon seeing Juddy, the accused told her “your pineapples are here”. Upon retrieving her pineapples, the complainant found that three had already been sold. Juddy’s husband arrived at the scene and had the accused apprehended and taken to the Market police station .