Abbas Khan acquitted of escape charge

Abbas Khan

Abbas Khan, a Pakistani national with Belizean citizenship appeared in the Belmopan Magistrate Court this past Wednesday. Khan was on trial for a charge of Escape from the Orange Walk police station. Police claimed that Khan escaped from the station last year on March third. Six witnesses, all police officers, were called to the stand. They testified having seen Khan at the station, but the defence pointed out that while Khan was at the precinct, he was kept in the lobby area.  He had been taken in by an off duty police officer but was not in the lockup so could not escape lawful custody.  Magistrate Merlene Moody found that the prosecution could not establish that Khan was in lawful custody so the charge of escape was dismissed.