Prison is home to almost 1300 inmates

Today marked the official end of the October Supreme Court session… And, as is customary, that body was informed regarding those defendants who had been put behind bars. Jose Ack, the head of operations at the Kolbe Foundation, took the witness stand before Justice Troadio Gonzalez, where he gave a report on the state of the prison, referred to as “jail delivery.” Ack indicated to the court that at present the prison at Hattieville has a total of one thousand, two hundred and ninety-nine inmates. This includes one thousand, two hundred and sixty-eight males and thirty-one females. Of this total, three hundred and twenty-nine prisoners are on remand awaiting trial.

The youngest remanded female is seventeen year old Guatemalan Yanira Escobar, accused of murder. The youngest convicted female is twenty-one year old Hortense Joseph, a Belizean serving ten and a half months imprisonment for various assault related offences. The oldest convicted female is Mehetibel Slusher, a fifty-four year old Belizean serving two years for dangerous harm.

The youngest remanded male is Emmanuel Willoughby, fourteen years old, accused of murder. The youngest convicted male is fourteen year old Ronald Bradley, who is serving four months for handling stolen goods, but who is also on remand for murder. The oldest man on remand is seventy-three year old Guatemalan Jose Estrada, accused of drug trafficking, while the oldest convicted prisoner is Candido Calderon, a sixty-three year old Guatemalan serving two consecutive four year terms for cultivation of controlled drugs.

Of the one hundred and fifty foreigners in the facility, there are seventy Guatemalans, thirty-four Hondurans, eighteen Salvadorans, five Nicaraguans, four citizens of the U.S.A., and a small number of other nationalities. The facility also houses nineteen persons serving life sentences and eight inmates condemned to death.

The new Supreme Court session begins on Monday with the ceremonial opening in Belize City.