A warrant was issued yesterday for the arrest of 30-year-old Junior Christie, the homeless man who was at the centre of last November’s public outcry after he was sentenced to prison for stealing ackees from King’s House, the residence of the governor general.

Christie failed to show up yesterday for his appeal against the three-month sentence slapped on him by Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey. The Appeal Court, comprising Justices Seymour Panton, Patrick Brooks and Dennis Morrison, rejected the appeal after waiting for about two-and-a-half hours in a final attempt to locate the appellant.

Cecil Warren, who stood surety for Christie, had to fork out the $30,000, after the judges accepted an appeal from attorney-at-law Howard Hamilton, QC, for leniency. Hamilton said Warren was playing the role of “Good Samaritan” when he bailed Christie without any personal knowledge about him. He gave Christie a job which he left shortly after.

Justice Panton, the president of the Court of Appeal, noted that Christie had eight previous convictions, with most of the sentences suspended, when he was given three months in November for stealing from King’s House. RM Pusey was not made aware of his record prior to sentencing him.

“He has a history of dishonesty,” the judge said.

Christie’s sentence last year triggered a major public debate on whether he should be jailed for stealing 45 pods of ackee, said then to be worth $350.

Hamilton, a former public defender, was retained by the Office of the Public Defender to defend the appellant. He was instructed by attorney Jack Hines, who had been engaged by the Legal Aid Council. Both the public defender and the Legal Aid Council had rushed to Christie’s aid after the outcry.

“I would hope his absence was not calculated. I am just hoping that it is a case of instability that will requisite help,” a disapppointed Hugh Faulkner, executive director of the Legal Aid Council told the Jamaica Observer after the verdict.

— Balford Henry