Jasmine Hartin claims she 'accidentally' shot police chief Henry Jemmott during a shoulder massage
The partner of the son of British billionaire Lord Ashcroft has claimed she was giving a senior police officer from San Pedro in Belize, a massage when she allegedly shot him by accident. Police are now investigating whether Jasmine Hartin, 38, was playing a drinking game involving the pistol with San Pedro Superintendent Henry Jemmott when he was fatally shot. She was charged on Monday, May 31, 2021, with manslaughter by negligence.
Henry Jemmott’s lifeless body was reportedly found floating in the sea near San Pedro. Hartin had "blood on her arms and clothes" which gave authorities a strong reason to arrest her.
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In a Friday briefing on May 28, Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police reportedly said the officer's body was found in the water off a pier in San Pedro with an apparent gunshot wound behind his ear. Officer Jemmott was reportedly shot while "drinking with Lord Ashcroft's daughter-in-law" Hartin. Canadian socialite Hartin and Jemmott, a father of five, were supposedly friends, according to the police. Jemmott's sister, Marie Jemmott Tzul, said that while her brother and Hartin knew each other, there was no "romantic relationship at all," according to a report carried in the Telegraph.
"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," Williams said. According to a report in the Times of London, it is now believed that the pair were playing a drinking game with Jemmott’s loaded pistol on the pier before things went downhill.
While some reports online say that Hartin is the American wife of 43-year-old Andrew Ashcroft, the youngest son of the billionaire Tory donor, it is unclear if they are married. Her lawyer Godfrey Smith told reporters on Monday, May 31, 2021, that she had been denied bail and will be remanded in prison. "The charge is manslaughter by negligence," he said. "Bail has been denied. We appeal to the Supreme Court, as is normal."
A massage and a pistol game
According to 7 News, Hartin said that she was giving the superintendent a shoulder massage when he asked her to hand him his pistol. She then alleged that the Glock went off accidentally and shot him in the back of the head, according to quoted sources.
In another report from the publication, "reliable sources" reveal that Hartin also claimed that Jemmott fell on her and she pushed him off, leading to his lifeless body falling from the pier to the water. "In struggling to get out from under him, she pushed him off, and his lifeless body fell from the pier into the water," said the police source. The first to respond to the site was a security guard, who saw the officer fall into the water. When he got onto the pier, he reportedly found Hartin pacing back and forth with blood splattered all over her clothing.
In another claimed alibi, Hartin had suggested to first responders that the shot might have come from a passing boat. Cherry Jemmott, another sister of the deceased officer, reportedly described her brother's fatal wound as an "assassination." "He is so skillful after 24 years [as an officer], he would never have left his guard down," Cherry said. "He was a top cop. I don't know how he let down his guard to be shot with his own gun."
Previously, Marie told the DailyMail that she knew Hartin would be charged in connection with his death. "I got a call. I was informed that she will be charged tomorrow, but they did not say what she was going to be charged with."