News Briefs

Accused charged with Manchester woman’s murder

 

The 30-year-old supermarket supervisor has been charged with the shooting death of his reputed lover at a food store on South Race Course Road in Mandeville last week.

Charged with murder and illegal possession of firearm and ammunition is Andre Bromfield of New Green district, Manchester.

Twenty-four-year-old Shantell Whyte, an inventory clerk of Grey Ground in the parish, was shot several times about 6:15 p.m. inside the lunchroom of the establishment on New Year’s Eve. Whyte was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A source told The Gleaner that the two were involved romantically.

“He was always talking about the investment he made in her and I think at one point he was helping out with some school thing,” the source said.

 

Three wards of the State missing

 

An Ananda Alert has been activated for three teenage wards of the State who went missing on Saturday, January 4.

The boys, who are all from the Maxfield Park Children’s Home, were last seen at the facility about six o’clock in the afternoon and have not been seen or heard from since.

They are 14-year-old Alexandre Brown, 14-year-old Jaheim Nation, and 13-year-old Jermaine Madden.

Madden and Brown are of dark complexion, stout build, and about 160cm (5 feet 3 inches) tall. Nation is also dark and stout and is about 168cm (5 feet 6 inches) tall.

Anyone knowing their whereabouts is asked to contact the Hunts Bay Police Station at 876-923-7111, police 119 emergency number, or the nearest police station.

 

Belize judges called tyrants for same-sex appeal ruling

 

A Caribbean-wide group has chastised the Court of Appeal for its ruling last week which found that a part of Section 53 of the criminal code, which prohibits same-sex relations, was in contravention of five sections of the constitution.

Section 53, Chapter 101 of the Belize Criminal Code states that “every person who has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any person or animal shall be liable to imprisonment for 10 years”.

But Caribbean CAUSE, a regional group consisting of individuals and groups from 14 Caribbean territories, including Belize, said it was alarmed that the appeal court supported Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin’s “unilateral alteration of the content and intent of the Belizean Constitution in changing ‘sex’ to ‘sexual orientation’”.

“We argue that the court in Belize has taken to itself powers that it does not have and is setting dangerous precedent that is a threat to our democracies.

“The conduct of the judges in this matter has led to a crisis because the courts are seeking to make our democracies into ‘juristocracies’ – a position that is wholly untenable and cannot be allowed,” the group said in a statement issued last night.

The organisation said that it has sent a second communique to the heads of governments to intervene in what it characterised as “the tyranny of activist judges”.