Top Tory peer’s daughter-in-law held after police chief shot dead in Caribbean
TORY grandee Lord Ashcroft’s daughter-in-law was last night being quizzed by police over the fatal shooting of a senior officer with his own gun.
Jasmine Hartin Ashcroft was held after the lifeless body of police chief Henry Jemmott was found floating in the sea in Belize, on the eastern coast of Central America.
Locals heard a single gunshot ring out into the night and Superintendent Jemmott, a married family man, was found with a fatal wound to his head, behind his right ear, with his gun nearby.
When officers arrived, an ‘emotional’ Mrs Ashcroft was on the pier above the water with her arms and clothes stained with blood, Belize police commissioner Chester Williams said.
Mrs Ashcroft, a former estate agent, is married to Lord Ashcroft’s 42-year- old son Andrew and the couple live in the Caribbean nation, where they launched a luxury hotel together.
Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, a former deputy chairman of the party, formed Crimestoppers in the UK in 1988. He holds dual British and Belize nationality.
Andrew is his youngest son and was born in Britain, but lives in Belize, where he has citizenship.
In a police briefing to the media, Commissioner Williams said officers believed Mr Jemmott and Mrs Ashcroft were alone on the pier, near the town of San Pedro, before the shooting.
Police are investigating whether Mr Jemmott was shot, whether he could have shot himself or whether it was an accident, the commissioner said, and were keeping ‘an open mind’.
He added: ‘We have to keep an open mind in the investigation. But there is no suggestion to say there is any third actor. Inspection of the body should tell us a lot in terms of proximity and trajectory which will assist in determining the distance from which the shot was fired as well as whether or not Mr Jemmott could have caused his own injury or it was caused by someone in his close proximity.’
Mr Jemmott’s service weapon was found nearby. The officer had requested ‘personal leave’ from the police before the incident.
Commissioner Williams said: ‘From what we have gathered so far Mr Jemmott and a female, one Jasmine, were socialising on a pier somewhere in San Pedro. This was after 12.30am which was [Covid] curfew time.
‘One 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 her clothing.
‘A firearm was also seen. That has been retrieved. The firearm belonged to the police and was assigned to Mr Jemmott, so he had it on him at the time.
‘And inside the waters right near the pier police recovered the lifeless body of Mr Jemmott with one apparent gunshot wound behind the right ear.
‘He was taken to the San Pedro clinic where he was found dead on arrival. Currently we have Miss Jasmine Ashcroft in custody and she is being investigated in the shooting of Mr Jemmott.’
The police commissioner said Mrs Ashcroft ‘was somewhat in an emotional state’ when she was found on the pier and was later taken into custody.
Forensic tests were not carried out to swab her for gunshot residue, he said, and she had not initially co- operated with police. Lawyers were last night flying into Belize to represent her.
‘She was not co-operating,’ the police chief said. ‘ She requested that she needed to have an attorney present in order for her to say what she wants to say, which is part of her rights.’
There was no surveillance footage from CCTV cameras available, Commissioner Williams told the media briefing.
He added: ‘They were alone on the pier and were fully clothed. I cannot say the nature of the relationship. Only they can say. We know they are friends.’
A curfew is in place between midnight and 5am as part of the island’s Covid restrictions but officers have interviewed people in the area in case they witnessed anything.
Lord Ashcroft did not respond to a request for comment.
‘We have to keep an open mind’ ‘Somewhat in an emotional state’