Billionaire’s daughter-in-law ‘had no idea gun was loaded’ when she shot cop dead – World News

The daughter-in-law of billionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft didn’t realise the gun she shot dead a police chief with was loaded, it has been reported.

Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin, 32, has claimed she shot superintendent Henry Jemmott by accident.

The father of five was found dead in shallow water next to a hotel pier with a single bullet wound to his head.

A police firearm assigned to the 42-year-old superintendent was retrieved from the scene in the upscale coastal enclave of Ambergris Caye in Belize.

On the night of his death Supt Jemmott and Ms Hartin had headed down to the pier at the nearby Banana Beach resort with a bottle of wine and some miniature-sized bottles of whisky, Mail on Sunday reported.

Six days earlier Ms Hartin reportedly called the police chief after a man became aggressive towards her while she attended a party in the capital, Belmopan.

Supt Jemmott is said to have sent help in the form of officers as well as driving to go and get her, advising that she got a gun as they made their way home.

On the night of his death the police chief asked her for a shoulder massage, having earlier strained it while out fishing.

She agreed and moved behind him to rub his shoulder, it has been reported.

Supt Jemmott suggested they leave the jetty and asked Jasmine to hand him the gun magazine he had given her so she could practice loading and unloading his gun.

“I picked up the gun and tried to eject the magazine clip but it was stuck,” she is understood to have told police, the Mail on Sunday reported.

“I struggled with it, trying to get the magazine out, when the gun suddenly went off. I had no idea it still had a bullet in the chamber.”

She reportedly added: “As I was wriggling to get out from under him, to get free so I could check to see if he was OK, he slipped into the water.”

The police chief is said to have fallen back onto her, covering Ms Hartin with blood, before he slumped off the jetty.

The heiress is said to have become hysterical, prompting security guards from a nearby hotel to rush to the scene and find her pacing on the pier.

Ms Hartin was charged with manslaughter by negligence and denied bail – but there was speculation she could escape with just a fine after police decided not to charge her with murder or manslaughter.

She is married to Andrew Ashcroft, the youngest child of Lord Ashcroft, 75, a major financial backer of the Conservative Party who holds dual British and Belizean nationality.

Supt Jemmott’s family are planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit, according to ABC News.

They said they would not be surprised if Ms Hartin is granted bail next week – even though the Belize Police Department insists she will receive “no special treatment”

“Money has power here,” Supt Jemmott’s sister, Vidalia Cadogan, said on Thursday.

Ms Hartin had “what appeared to be blood on her arms and on her clothing” when police arrived on scene, according to Belize Police Department.

The Mail reports that there is a possibility Ms Hartin will plead not guilty to a charge of manslaughter by negligence over the incident on May 28.