THE scorpion infested jail where the daughter-in-law of Tory billionaire donor Lord Ashcroft is being held stands in sharp contrast to the luxury lifestyle she's been used to.
Jasmine Hartin is facing manslaughter charges in Belize after the body of policeman Henry Jemmott was found floating in the sea her current home is a world away from the world of boutique hotels and champagne.
Hartin has now been transferred to one of the world’s toughest prisons as she faces years behind bars after being charged with manslaughter by negligence.
She said she had been giving him a massage on a pier after a boozy night out when she attempted to hand his service pistol back to him and it suddenly fired.
The 38-year-old Canadian-born Hartin is a former high-end estate agent who sold luxury properties to wealth foreigners drawn by Belize’s stunning beaches.
Lord Ashcroft – whose net worth is estimated at £2.1 billion – is a major property owner in the central American country, where he has been based since the early 1980s.
Hartin and husband Andrew, 43, recently opened the Alaia Belize Autograph Collection luxury resort.
It offers “masterfully crafted” holiday villas that feature beachside terraces, private plunge pools and a concierge service with rates starting starts at $2,239 a night.
The resort also offers eight villas for sale with one on offer for $1.3 million on the website of Sancas Reality – where Jasmine worked as an estate agent.
Andrew Ashcroft, the property developer son of the former Conservative deputy chairman, is the managing director of the Alaia Belize.
His wife, a mother-of-two,was the “director of lifestyle and experience”, according to her LinkedIn page.
The resort formally opened on May 7, just three weeks before the fateful shooting in San Pedro.
Video of the opening showed Hartin, immaculately dressed in a smart, pink top and white trousers, with glamorous makeup, swept up hair and glass of champagne in her hand.
Announcing the opening, the resort said it was “raising the luxury bar in Belize” and boasted that it promised Belize’s first-ever suspended rooftop pool and lounge with 360-degree view.
Hartin’s previous job involved selling luxury homes catering to investors from North America and Britain.
Sancas Reality website offers buyers with hefty wallets stretches of “pristine beachfront” for $14.9 million.
The world of luxury hotels and paradise beaches stands in stark contrast to Hartin’s current home, the country’s Central Prison.
She hid her handcuffs under a plastic bag as she was taken to the notorious jail past a memorial erected outside by police to Superintendent Jemmott.
The jail, in Hattieville, is the small country's only prison and featured on the Netflix doc Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons.
Known as the "Hattieville Ramada", the facility currently houses 1,041 prisoners in small concrete cell blocks who are subject to strict religious instruction.
Inmates are held at the facility for months and sometimes even years on end while they await trial.
And given it's the country's only prison, inmates held for petty crimes have to rub shoulders with notorious murderers.
Hartin is languishing in the hellhole prison after being denied bail after a judge ruled that her Canadian citizenship makes her a flight risk.
Her attorney, former attorney general of Belize Godfrey Smith, meanwhile, is fighting to appeal the judge's decision.
But of the cop's sisters, Marie Jemmott Tzul, who is currently looking after her brother's five kids, has said she wants to see a murder charge.
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