Kenya's Court of Appeal has reportedly upheld the death sentence handed to three men who allegedly stole 30 pineapples from a Del Monte farm, according to local publication Standard Media.

Julius Mugambi, Edward Mburu and Francis Maina lost their case after the court found they were positively identified as part of a gang of seven intruders, the story said.

They are now reported to be on death row even though they never got away with the fruits worth Sh1,500 from a facility belonging to Del Monte Kenya, which is owned by Fresh Del Monte.

The three were charged with threatening security guards using machetes before stealing the pineapples and also with unlawfully injuring an animal, the story said.

They were reportedly first arraigned in the magistrate’s court in Thika on November 1, 2008, where they were tried and sentenced to death.

They filed an appeal at the High Court, arguing there was a mistake in the identification of intruders at the farm on the day, according to Standard Media.

At the time of writing, Fresh Del Monte had not replied to Fresh Fruit Portal's request for comment on the matter.

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