Case Struck Out Against Alleged Partygoers During COVID S.O.E.

Keke Requena

A group of eleven persons, many of whom are family and friends, walked free from charges that were brought against them in August 2021.  They were arrested following an alleged party that was held on a boat during the State of Emergency which was associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Today, they appeared before Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser who asked six of the eleven defendants if their plea of not guilty still remained.  Thirty-one-year-old Evan Thompson told the court that while it was his thirtieth birthday, he chartered a vessel to take family and friends to Caye Caulker, instead of transporting them to the island by water taxi, since it was at the height of the pandemic and social distancing was required.  According to Thompson, when the police came aboard and arrested them, no one was partying.  The boat was simply being used to ferry passengers privately to Caye Caulker, adding that they were all masked.  He even went as far as telling the court that there was a total of sixty persons onboard the vessel, which the arresting officer also attested.  Thompson said that he was not on the boat at the time of the arrest but that because it was his event, he was also charged.  Chief Magistrate Frazer believed that the police officer could not sufficiently prove the charge since there were others onboard who were never arrested and charged for the alleged offence.  With that, the matter was struck out as the case had been lingering before the court for too long.