Thirty-year-old Junior Christie who was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing $350 worth of ackees from the King's House property last year has lost his appeal.

When the matter came up in the Court of Appeal yesterday, an arrest warrant was sent out for an absent Christie to be taken back into custody.

In November, Christie pleaded guilty in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court to the charge of praedial larceny and was later sentenced to three months in prison.

However the sentence was stayed when he served notice to appeal against the penalty on the grounds that it was too excessive.

Meanwhile, the court yesterday morning waived the requirement for the man who bailed Christie to pay the bond amount of $30,000.

The court said given the circumstances under which the surety had bailed Christie, no order would be made for him to pay the amount.

After the case came to public attention, two men including the surety went to the Legal Aid Council and got attorney Hugh Falconer to apply for bail.

Christie was bailed pending his appeal.

Howard Hamilton, who was representing Christie, noted that the surety was only acting as a 'Good Samaritan'.

The Court of Appeal also noted that the public did not know the entire circumstance of the case as Christie had eight previous convictions for dishonesty.

On five occasions he was given suspended prison sentences.