Billionaire's Daughter-in-Law Learns Her Fate After Admitting to Shooting to Death Police Officer in Belize

The daughter-in-law of a British billionaire and conservative politician has avoided jail time after admitting to fatally shooting a police officer in Belize. Last April, Jasmine Hartin, 34, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence for discharging a gun at Henry Jemmott as they drank together in 2021. He died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Hartin is the former partner of Andrew Ashcroft, whose father is the wealthy Tory leader Lord Michael Ashcroft. The drama behind the shooting has inspired a steady stream of tabloid headlines in the UK, where Hartin has not been allowed to return.

On the night of May 28, 2021, Hartin said she was hanging out with Jemmott at the home she shared with her partner. She told investigators that the police officer had encouraged her to get a gun for her own safety. They were chatting at the end of a wooden pier, when he told her to practice loading and unloading his own firearm. As she handed the gun back to him, it went off, striking him in the head and killing him.  "She later told investigators that she had been drinking, and had fumbled with the Glock 17 after the police chief asked for it back, leading to an accidental discharge," BBC News reported. "Police found Hartin near the pier, covered in blood and distraught. Mr. Jemmott's body was found in the water of San Pedro, Belize."

Hartin grew up in rural Ontario, Canada. She moved to Belize in 2014, when she was 25. There, she worked as a real estate agent and met the wealthy and connected Ashcroft. The couple had twins, a boy and a girl, in 2017.  In the town of San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye, Hartin and Ashcroft built a luxury hotel called the Alaia, next to a complex of condominiums where they lived with the twins. It opened in May 2021. Three weeks later, the shooting happened.

Hartin was incarcerated for eight days "in a notorious prison," the UK Times reported, but was released on $15,000 bail. Then her partner, Andrew Ashcroft, who holds "great sway" in Belize, arranged for her to stay in a secluded jungle compound, far from the beachside house where she had lived with Ashcroft and their children. She was required to check in with a local police station daily and her passport was confiscated.  At that point, she says Ashcroft tried to make her sign away custody of their children. "I have explained to Jasmine that we have to agree on dates, time, and place convenient to all of us where she can see the children," he said. "But instead she insists on making unreasonable demands, showing up without prior notification."

The drama continued: In May 2022, a judge gave Ashcroft custody of the twins and he left with them for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A manager at the hotel who had provided Hartin's bail withdrew it, and she was imprisoned once again before a local lawyer being released. She was charged with possession of cocaine, which she said was Tylenol.  Another judge ordered Hartin to be allowed visitation with her children, which her mother said never happened. "I have heard my baby where she is sobbing for her children," she told the Times. "It would break your heart. It's so horrendous and needless."

Ashcroft did not respond to the Times' request for comment. His profile on the website of the Turks and Caicos Real Estate Association says that "as a single father of two and partner in a growing business, Andrew uses his free time to embrace everything island life offers … His greatest passion, however, is deep-sea fishing and his children are quickly learning to share this joy with their dad".  Wendy Auxillou, the lawyer who arranged Hartin's second release from jail, told the Times she believed Hartin had been treated fairly in terms of the manslaughter by negligence charge. She also said that because Hartin had been separated from her children, "people developed a lot more sympathy for her."

In Belize, the maximum sentence for manslaughter by negligence is five years in prison. Last week, Belize's high court sentenced Hartin to a $37,000 fine and 300 hours of community service. She must pay the fine within a year and рrоduсе а vіdео about the dangers of drunkenness and mishandling firearms, according to Breaking Belize News.  Outside the courthouse, Hartin told reporters: "I just want Henry's family to have peace now and I want this whole thing to be behind all of us so we can heal."