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Billionaire in ‘World’s Toughest’ Prison Accused of Cop’s Death

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A Canadian socialite is locked inside Belize’s most notorious prison, accused of killing the police officer who was reportedly her friend.

Jasmine Hartin, 32, is now an inmate at Belize Central Prison after being charged with manslaughter by negligence in the shooting death of Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott. Hartin is the partner of British developer Andrew Ashcroft, son of billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, and the case has become a flashpoint over whether wealth and political connections can bend Belize’s justice system.

• Superintendent Henry Jemmott, 42 and a father of five, was found dead in the water off a San Pedro Town pier with a gunshot wound behind his right ear, killed with his own Glock 17 service pistol.
• Jasmine Hartin told investigators the gun discharged accidentally while Jemmott had handed it to her during a night of drinking on Ambergris Caye.
• A magistrate denied Hartin bail on May 31, citing flight-risk concerns, sending her to the Kolbe Foundation facility, commonly called Hattieville Prison, where she remained as of June 6 while her lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court.

Incidents on the Local Pier

The shooting unfolded in the early morning hours of May 28, 2021, on a pier in San Pedro Town, the small island community on Ambergris Caye where Hartin and Ashcroft had built a life running a resort together. Police arriving at the scene found Hartin in an emotional state, with blood on her clothing and hands, near where Jemmott’s body was pulled from the water. He had been shot at close range with the pistol he carried on duty.

Hartin’s account, as relayed to investigators, was that she and Jemmott had been socializing and drinking when he passed her the Glock 17 and it went off in her hands. Belize police charged her with manslaughter by negligence rather than murder, a distinction that has shaped much of the public debate over how the case is being handled.

A Prison Built for Belize’s Toughest Cases

Belize Central Prison, run by the Kolbe Foundation and widely known by its old name, Hattieville Prison, has been the subject of documentaries chronicling some of the world’s harshest correctional facilities. It’s here that Hartin has been held since her arraignment, a stark contrast to the resort lifestyle she and Ashcroft maintained on Ambergris Caye before Jemmott’s death.

Hartin told investigators the weapon discharged accidentally while she was handling it — the same pistol Superintendent Henry Jemmott had carried on duty.

The magistrate’s decision to deny bail on May 31 turned on flight-risk concerns, a notable ruling given the resources and international connections available to Hartin’s family. Her legal team responded by taking the fight to a higher court, filing a petition with Belize’s Supreme Court for her release pending trial.

The Ashcroft Connection

Andrew Ashcroft, Hartin’s partner and the father of their two young children, is the son of Lord Michael Ashcroft, the billionaire businessman and former deputy chairman of the UK Conservative Party. That lineage has put the case under a spotlight far beyond what a typical manslaughter charge in Belize would draw, with local commentary openly questioning whether the family’s influence could shape the outcome.

By June 6, 2021, Hartin remained behind bars at the Hattieville facility as the Supreme Court weighed her bail petition, with no ruling yet issued. The scrutiny extends beyond the courtroom — for a small country like Belize, a case touching one of Britain’s wealthiest families and the death of a sitting police superintendent is the kind of story that doesn’t fade quietly, especially with international outlets tracking every filing.