Socialite Jasmine Hartin avoids jail time, given $37K fine after pleading guilty to fatally shooting Belize police chief
Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin will serve no jail time over the shooting death of a Belize police chief and was instead given a $37,000 fine plus community service at a court hearing Tuesday, according to a report.
Hartin, 34, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence last month for fatally shooting Superintendent Henry Jemmott in the head with his own gun in what she said was a freak accident while reloading the weapon in May 2021.
She must also complete 300 hours of community service and record a video teaching the public about the dangers of “drinking and making foolish decisions” at the sentencing in Supreme Court in Belize City, the Daily Mail reported.
Hartin and Jemmott, 42, were reportedly drinking together on the island of Ambergris Caye when Hartin said the police chief handed her his Glock 17 to practice loading and unloading it when it “just when off.”
“I don’t remember ever touching that trigger on the gun so I don’t know what happened, to be honest,” she said in June 2022. “I was trying to get the clip out and it just went off — I don’t remember ever touching the trigger.”
Hartin, who is the ex-wife of British billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft’s son Andrew, broke down in tears when she entered the last-minute guilty plea right before her trial was set to begin last month.
She said she wanted Jemmott’s family “to have peace” and healing from her plea.
However, Jemmott’s relatives criticized the woman for speaking publicly about the shooting to rehab her image.
His 39-year-old widow, Romit Wilson, told the Daily Mail that Hartin gave countless interviews about the violent death of her husband and the father of her three children.
“My children and I have had to endure Ms Hartin recounting in interview after interview, in full documentaries even, details of that awful night, details of her friendship with Henry and even details about my relationship with Henry,” Wilson told the outlet.
Hartin has given multiple interviews to both print and television news sites and was featured in a Discovery+ documentary called “One Bullet in Belize.”
“She said she pleaded guilty to not put us through the anguish of a trial,” Wilson said. “I wish she had also thought about that before her international PR campaign.”
Jemmott’s family is pursuing a wrongful death claim against Hartin in civil court.
