The high-profile family of a Canadian socialite charged in the shooting death of a Belize police officer has not visited her since she was taken to a notoriously tough Central American prison, according to reports.
Jasmine Hartin, the daughter-in-law of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, has been behind bars at Belize Central Prison for more than a week following her arrest. A judge is expected to decide this week whether she will be released pending trial.
Hartin, the longtime partner of Ashcroft’s son Andrew, has been charged with manslaughter by negligence after police found her with blood on her clothing and arms near a dock. Her friend Henry Jemmott’s lifeless body was found floating nearby in the water.
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Hartin initially claimed Jemmott had been shot by someone from a passing boat. She changed her story after authorities allegedly told her she would also be charged with cocaine possession, 7 News Belize, a local news channel, reported.
Hartin eventually told investigators that she and Jemmott met up for a night of drinking. Jemmott suggested she practice loading his gun, something she had done with him before following an incident when a man allegedly became aggressive toward her. Hartin said Jemmott advised her to get a gun for protection. She said during her second boozy practice session that she had trouble ejecting the magazine clip and that it accidentally fired, hitting the father of five behind his right ear.
Hartin had been denied bail by a lower court in San Pedro. Her attorney, Godfrey Smith, Belize’s former attorney general, appealed the decision to the supreme court in Belize City.
Hartin has not been in the courtroom but instead has watched the proceedings via video from prison.
The 32-year-old mother of two has not been visited by Andrew Ashcroft, 43, or any relatives for that matter since she arrived at the prison, the Sun reported.
“I’ve been here from Monday, all the time that she has been here, and I’m certain that Jasmine hasn’t had any visits from her family,” prison worker Ashburn McPherson told the news outlet.
“A friend came by on Saturday morning, and he said he was a family friend,” she added. “Her lawyer, Godfrey Smith, also came during the week and brought her some cash, $500, and clothes.”
Following Hartin’s arrest, Jemmott’s family has expressed frustration with the police. His sister told 7 News Belize that the family was disheartened that Hartin wasn’t charged with murder and suggested Hartin’s family ties and privileged background led to special treatment.
The punishment for manslaughter under the Belizean criminal justice system is up to 25 years in prison.
Hartin, however, is facing only five years. She could even avoid prison altogether and just pay a fine, according to the Daily Mail.
Hartin, a Canadian citizen, lives in Belize with her husband. She had previously worked as the lifestyle director for Alaia Belize, a four-diamond luxury resort on Ambergris Caye that her husband helped develop.
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Her father-in-law is worth an estimated $2 billion and was a major donor to the British Conservative Party in the 1980s and 1990s.
