Elderly Woman Dragged to Court and “Roughed Up” Over Land Dispute

Gertrude Hunter

Sixty-one-year-old Gertrude Hunter was taken to court this morning where she was arraigned on four criminal offenses, including damage to property, two counts of aggravated assault upon two police officers and one count of trespassing.  The charges arose from an incident in January during which Hunter was involved in a land dispute.  It is alleged that Hunter entered the property of Pauline McFadzean on Cemetery Road.  In court, earlier today the elderly woman appeared unrepresented where she pleaded not guilty to all four charges.  Hunter was offered bail in the sum of one thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same amount.  After meeting bail, Hunter tearfully recounted her experience at the hands of the Belize Police Department and described an ordeal that began in 2015 and only got worse following the passing of her common-law husband in 2020.  Hunter maintains that she is the rightful owner of the property in question and that it was given to her in a will left behind by her deceased husband.