Belize City man acquitted of bribing police
A Belize City man accused of bribing the police has been acquitted. Twenty one year old Lionel Castillo appeared in Magistrate’s Court this morning charged with two counts of corruption, but it wasn’t long after the session started that Magistrate Dorothy Flowers threw out the case for lack of evidence. According to police, Castillo acted as an agent for Melvin Young, who was arrested last year after an unusually large amount of money was found in his Buttonwood Bay home. Although he is happy to be free of the charges, Castillo says he still does not know why they were brought against him to begin with.
Lionel Castillo, Acquitted
“I really did not understand the charge itself, because, as originally I had maintained that I’m innocent, you know, I never did understand how they got around to those charges. I noted that all persons mentioned, P.C. Meighan, P.C. Hamilton, Hall and Goff, Freddy Grant, Senior Superintendent Thimbrel, they showed up but unfortunately at the end of the day as I had already maintained my innocent, it proved to be that, you know the police weren’t prepared to proceed with the matter. After the police prosecutor, he looked at the file and he viewed the evidence, contacting his superior, then he saw it fit that they cannot proceed with a charge, because the charges, was not, there is no evidence to substantiate the charge.”
Q: “Why would the police charge you in the first place?”
Lionel Castillo
“Well that is what I didn’t understand. I had wanted the matter to go to trial. I would have wanted the police officers, as a matter of fact Mr. Thimbrel came to court this morning and he left shortly thereafter, claiming that he was not prepared to go on the stand. But he, being the chief officer in terms of the investigation, and the arresting officer himself, I had expected him to go on the stand and I would have wanted some explanation as to why, why they brought these charges.”
Castillo has retained the services of attorney Lutchman Sooknandan and says he intends to press charges against the police.
