Man arrested for attack on witness

With a number of high profile criminal trials either underway or about to begin, there is growing concern in the law enforcement community that important witnesses may come under pressure to alter or withhold their testimony. Tonight a Belize City man is behind bars after he allegedly attacked one such witness to a crime. Police say twenty-seven year old Linton Sutherland of Pink’s Alley was one of two men who beat up Dean McKenzie so he wouldn’t testify against one of Sutherland’s friends. Apparently that friend, Albert Pou Jr., was arrested in February after McKenzie filed a robbery report against him. Police speculate that Sutherland and his accomplice thought it wise to physically intimidate the young man to keep Pou out of jail. They were wrong. Police have now charged Linton Sutherland with aggravated assault against a witness and harm. The second person involved in the incident, believed to also reside in Pink’s Alley, is expected to be detained soon.