A former employee of Caribbean Producers Limited who appeared before the court for stealing a box of shortening and three cases of butter, claimed that he took the goods because the expiry date on them had passed.

Interestingly, the accused man, Jermaine Mason, told the court that he was taking the goods to give to his mother to bake a cake for his daughter’s birthday.

He however denied the quantity of the goods, claiming that he had only taken one bottle of shortening and a case of butter.

Mason was caught by a security guard leaving the company on July 26, with the goods concealed in his car, the court heard.

But Mason said that he had not intentionally stolen the items as they were goods that were rejected and were placed in a special area and he assumed that they were going to be discarded.

“I decided to take the shortening and the butter since they were expired. I did not know that it would be a problem,” he said.

Pusey then enquired from the company representative if he was a good worker and was told that he was not a good worker and that he had just come off three weeks suspension.

The man also dismissed Mason’s claim that the goods were expired. According to the representative, the goods were not expired, but were not in a presentable format for sale to the public.

Mason in his defence quickly told the court that the suspension was not for stealing but was as a result of a fight he had with another worker on the job.

Pusey, after scolding him for stealing the company’s product, then asked him why he should not go to prison for his actions.

“It was very messy and I honestly thought that the company did not want it,” he said before adding that he was sorry.

But Pusey, who was not convinced, told Mason that he took the goods because he was planning to sell them, a claim that he denied, stating that the butter was too soft and messy.

“Unless you opening a bakery, you don’t need that much butter,” Pusey said before ordering him to pay $50, 000 or serve six months in prison.