Ackees valued about $200 that were recently stolen from a fruit garden on the University of the West Indies (UWI) Campus in St Andrew were the focal point in a case against a man who tried to convince a presiding magistrate that he was employed to the institution.

Dwayne Binchorn, who appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court Thursday, was sentenced to three months in prison.

He was charged with praedial larceny and breaching the UWI campus Security Act.

It is alleged that on the day of the incident, security personnel found the accused trepassing on the Mona campus.

"Your honour, I work on the campus. I move chair and desk because I do maintenance. It was jus' a dozen ackees, your honour. I was not trespassing, it was just a few ackees," the accused said.

However, the court heard that the accused is no longer employed to the UWI and this is the second time that he has been brought before the courts for stealing ackees on the campus.

"Leave di people dem ackee alone. What you should do is go up by Rural Agricultural Development Authority and beg dem one ackee tree, so that you can plant it and water it," Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey said.