Farmer gets a break from coconut thief

It was quick thinking on the part of O’Neil Mairs, worker/overseer at a coconut farm in Rosend, St Mary, that saved the day for its owner, resulting in the recovery of approximately 630 water coconuts that were stolen.

The farm, which has been hard hit by praedial larceny for more than a decade, has been the prime target for thieves, who, until February 23, robbed at will during the dead of night and even in broad daylight – transporting coconuts in trucks and minivans, which are later sold to unsuspecting consumers, and in some instances are bottled and sold to supermarkets and at service stations.

Mairs, who spoke with The Gleaner, said that when he first saw a man from the community, commonly known to everyone as ‘Science’, reaping coconuts on the property on Tuesday, he knew that something was terrible wrong.

“I called out to him and he ran,” said Mairs.

“We informed members of the Praedial Larceny Unit who visited his premises, but when he saw the police, he ran leaving behind 630 jelly coconuts in his yard. We have lost many coconuts from this farm over the years. However, this time around we manage to catch somebody,” Mairs added.

The coconuts were seized and taken to the Islington Police Station and handed over for safe keeping, pending further investigation.

Police sources said that a day later, the accused man turned up at the Islington station and was arrested. He is expected to be charged soon.

The Islington police are continuing their investigation.