Security Guard Fined for Slapping Common-law Wife

A security guard of Ambergris Caye has been fined four hundred dollars for slapping his common-law wife. Forty-year-old Jose Garcia was arraigned in the magistrate’s court today and admitted to slapping Norma Noh twice. The incident happened on Saturday at their residence thirteen miles north of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. In the absence of a magistrate in San Pedro on Tuesday, Garcia was brought to the Belize City Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of harm. He expressed remorse and told the court that he should have thought before reacting. The magistrate told Garcia that while he saved court time by pleading guilty early, the fact that he slapped Noh not once but twice was an aggravating factor. Since he is a first-time offender, however, and because he expressed remorse, she did not impose a custodial sentence. In a report to police, Noh stated that at around four o’clock Saturday evening, she left work and got a ride on a golf cart, and Garcia met her, and they headed home. According to Noh, they got into an argument, and that’s when Garcia assaulted her. A doctor has classified her injuries as harm, and Noh requested court action against Garcia. He was given until December twentieth to pay the fine; in default, he’ll spend three months behind bars.