A man who was caught stealing twenty-three empty bottles worth eleven dollars and fifty cents, will be spending a long time behind bars. Fifty-two year old Eli Kerr today pleaded guilty to burglary and damage to property before Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie. Kerr entered the warehouse of the Chateau Caribbean, stole the bottles and in […]
The Maya Leaders who brought a suit against the government over property rights, headed back to the south on Monday to celebrate victory. Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh took over two hours to deliver a sixty-two page ruling before a packed courtroom. The CJ ruled that the Maya communities of the south, thirty-three villages in Toledo […]
It was big news on April first when the police top brass, flanked by Prime Minister Dean Barrow, called a news conference and dropped a bombshell saying that rogue cops were the mastermind behind a series of armed robberies that had taken place across the country. The story took several twists, and Police Constable Jermaine […]
The policeman that was detained and subsequently charged was Police Constable Jermaine Mangar. But his attorney Dickie Bradley says the police really have no evidence against Mangar because the more serious charge against his client is about to be withdrawn. Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney for P.C. Jermaine Mangar “His name is tarnished because it happened […]
It was a sensational case when Tasha Herrera and Alwyn Gonzalez were charged for drug trafficking that is over two kilos of suspected cocaine. Well, the tone was different this morning in court when the charges were withdrawn by Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer after the court prosecutor, Sergeant Carol Tucker, said that the police department […]
Six years behind bars, that’s the sentence forty-six year old Rueben Galdamez got today for the attempted burglary of Edita’s Fast Food located near the Farmer’s Market. The Benque Viejo resident was caught in act on the morning of February twenty-fourth by a police officer who testified that he saw Galdamez stooping near a window of […]
It is a historic day for the Maya communities whose representatives packed the courtroom this morning. The long anticipated ruling of a case involving property rights but that extended to other rights was delivered by Chief Justice Conteh among his last judgments before he vacates the seat as Chief Justice. The case was brought against […]
News Five’s Isani Cayetano and cameraman Chris Mangar are now in Indian Creek where well over a thousand members of the Maya communities, including the Alcaldes from the thirty-eight communities that brought the law suit against the government are celebrating today’s victory. The mood in the south is certainly festive and Greg Ch’oc of SATIIM, […]
This morning at the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, a former ex-prison officer changed his not guilty plea to guilty and was slapped with the maximum fine of ten thousand dollars for drug related offences. This goes back to a bust last November at the Hattieville Prison, when Prison Officer, Miguel Choc was found with seventeen […]
Kenneth Garcia was convicted of manslaughter on June sixteenth in the death of his uncle, Sergio Garcia. He had originally been charged with murder but a jury of four men and eight women instead found him guilty of manslaughter. Sentencing was scheduled for this afternoon, but his attorney Dickie Bradley, asked for more time to […]
Twenty-one year old Michael Foreman, who is currently on remand at the Hattieville Prison for murder, was today sentenced to five years for the crime of attempted robbery. The incident dates back to April eleventh of last year when Angela Thompson reported to Belize City police that whilst walking along Newtown Barracks she was accosted […]
In the other murder last week, police believe they have the man who cold-bloodedly murdered nineteen year old Joyce Mitchell in front of her Sibun Street home a week ago. This morning, Daniel “Danny” Anderson, a fisherman of Belize City, who has been in custody since last week, was taken to court in handcuffs and […]
In the courts, twenty- year old Hector Fajardo, a farmer of Lucky Strike, was arraigned this morning on one count of abduction. The victim’s mother is alleging that between June fifteen and June twenty-first, Fajardo, abducted her sixteen year old daughter. In attempting to secure bail for Fajardo, attorney Dickie Bradley told the court that […]
Also in court, nineteen year old year old Leon Wallace pleaded guilty to Handling Stolen Goods. He was initially charged with Burglary for a break-in at the home of Rosa Leal in Ladyville which occurred on June eighth. The stolen household items, which collectively valued three thousand five hundred and seventy-five dollars, were later discovered […]
In court today, he admitted to beating his ex-common-law wife but denied breaching a protection order to stay away from her. After he took the guilty plea, thirty-one year old Kent Hoare of Doris Brooks Street was sentenced to six months imprisonment for Wounding when he appeared before Senior Magistrate, Sharon Frazer. According to a […]
Last week Monday, we reported that Belize City Fisherman, Hopeton Westby Jr. had pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in public while under the influence of alcohol. Westby was not sentenced forthwith because the alcohol level had not been certified. But he subsequently changed his plea to not guilty which meant that bail could not […]
A Tropical Park senior citizen was killed by two vicious pit bulls three weeks ago. Sixty-five year old Edmund Spain was attacked on May thirty-first while at his home in the Tropical Park area. He sustained injuries to the face and body and was hospitalized but died from the injuries some six days later. Today, […]
Two teenagers were late this evening convicted of robbing a BTL Technician in September 2009. Both Kyle Chaplin and Jamal Neal were each given five year sentences. According to our court reporter, eighteen year old Chaplin was disrespectful to the Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer during trial and things turned nasty when sentencing was handed down. […]
In other news from the courts, five men had a brief taste of freedom last Tuesday after eight months on remand for the 2009 murder of Randy Coye. They were acquitted because police did not provide a case file after numerous requests and the preliminary inquiry could not start. But less than a week later, […]
A well-known hotelier and basketball enthusiast, Tommy Shaw, was questioned over the weekend in connection with an ongoing investigation in the death of Neisa Pipersburgh. When his Belama Phase two home was searched, police found two unlicensed firearms; a point twelve shotgun and a revolver along ammunition were found at his home. Shaw was taken […]
Earlier this week, murder charges against five men were dropped because the case file was not provided by the office of the D.P.P. The murder trial of Timroy Neal began earlier this week but also fell apart today when the court was informed of an all too familiar reason—that the main witness cannot be found. […]
Eighty year old Gerald Gentle, a resident of corner of Haynes and Neal Penn Road, was charged for drug trafficking when he was busted with almost sixty-three pounds of weed. At around eleven-thirty this morning, a team of police and B.D.F. soldiers searched two houses, both which Gentle claimed belonged to him. In one […]
Almost five thousand dollars worth of fuel was reportedly stolen from Shell One Stop Gas Station located at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Cemetery Road. The alleged culprit, twenty-two year old Felix Lino Vargas, appeared before Magistrate Albert Hoare today and was slapped with seven counts each of Obtaining Property by Deception and […]
Not too long after Prime Minister Dean Barrow introduced Operation Restore Belize—designed to re-establish confidence in the Police and a sense of order to Belize City streets—yet another police constable is facing charges of misconduct. An allegation of extortion has been filed against police constable, twenty nine year old Elvis Mai. The charge follows a […]
A Camalote Villager finds himself in all kinds of trouble with the law after he was formally arraigned on several indictable charges. Omar Woodye is charged with ten counts of obtaining property by deception, one count of forgery and one count of uttering a false document. The charges follow a report by Zhi Yiang Zhang […]
