The daughter-in-law of Conservative grandee Lord Ashcroft has been granted bail of $30,000 Belize dollars (£10,500).

Jasmine Hartin, the partner of Michael Ashcroft’s son Andrew, has been charged with manslaughter by negligence after a police superintendent was shot dead.

The 32-year-old must surrender her travel and other personal documents and will not be allowed to leave the country without the permission of the Supreme Court.

Bail conditions also mean she must report to the police station in San Ignacio Town, Cayo District every day.

Hartin was found on a dock near to where 42-year-old superintendent Henry Jemmott’s body was discovered in the town of San Pedro early on Friday.

Police Commissioner Chester C Williams told local media that a single gunshot was heard “and upon investigating, police found the female on a pier, and she had what appeared to be blood on her arms and on her clothing”.

“A firearm was also seen on the pier that has been retrieved and we have learned that the firearm belonged to the police and was assigned to Mr Jemmott,” he told a news conference.

Hartin’s father-in-law Lord Ashcroft is a former deputy chairman and a major financial backer of the Conservative Party.

He also has Belizean citizenship and was once its representative before the United Nations.

Mr Williams added that the incident “seems rather personal and not an attack”.

“From what we know is that they are friends. From what we have been made to understand they were drinking. From investigation, they were alone on the pier and yes they were both fully clothed.”

He said Hartin “was somewhat in an emotional state walking herself on the pier. We believe that she is to some extent affected by it”.

Source: Read Full Article