_{Raheem Herbert and Tyreek Straughan, charged}

BELIZE CITY, Fri. Apr. 11, 2025

By Friday afternoon, another teenager had joined a group of young men accused of cruelty to an animal in connection with the brutal chopping of a horse that had been video-recorded and viewed by many Belizeans on social media.

After the recording that the young men had made went viral, they were arrested by police and charged criminally.

On Friday morning, a group of four teens: two 15-year-olds, and a 16-year-old, along with 19-year-old Raheem Herbert, were taken to court in a prison van.

But their arraignment was paused and adjourned until 2:00 p.m. following the detention and arrest of the fifth suspect, 19-year-old Tyreek Straughan, who had been on the run.

In the afternoon at 2:00, all five young men appeared before a Senior Magistrate in Court #3.

In addition to Straughan, a construction worker of #7017 Antelope Street, Belize City; and Herbert, 19, a resident of #2 Pitter Street, Belize City; three minors were charged: two 15-year-old high school students, and a 16-year-old car washer.

_{Horse receiving treatment from BAHA}

The group of five all appeared unrepresented before the Senior Magistrate in Court #3, where 3 counts were read. The first count was for cruelty to an animal. All 5 were read this count, and they all ultimately pleaded guilty to this charge.

Four of the 5 (with the exception of one of the 15-year-old students) pleaded guilty initially, but that student subsequently changed his plea to guilty.

The group of young men (excluding Straughan) were all then read a second count for abetment to commit cruelty to an animal due to the allegation that Herbert, the two 15-year-olds and the 16-year-old voluntarily aided Tyreek Straughan in his acts of cruelty toward the horse.

Initially, Herbert pleaded guilty to this charge, but when he asked what that charge meant, the Senior Magistrate explained to him that it meant that he helped or encouraged Straughan in committing the act of cruelty to the horse.

The sitting Senior Magistrate then read the portion of the facts which stated that, according to the police, in the video footage of the incident, Herbert was seen holding the rope that restrained the horse, and that’s the role that he played, explained the Senior Magistrate to Herbert.

When Herbert heard the allegations that were being made against him, he said, “No man, dah neva me di hold di string;” and as a result, he changed his guilty plea to not guilty, but later changed it back to guilty.

The 16-year-old minor initially pleaded guilty also with an explanation, and told the court that every time they stole his horse, “they whap ahn, cut ahn, an beat up ahn,” and then he had to pay to get back his horse.

It was at this point that the Senior Magistrate read out the police’s entire facts so that the five accused young men could hear the entire allegations being made against them.

According to police, on Thursday, April 10, 2025, CIB officers visited the Dykes area on Fabers Road and found a brown horse with extensive cut wounds to his shoulder and right eye.

Upon viewing the video footage of the abuse of the horse, a police officer identified the five accused persons, and according to the officer, Raheem Herbert was seen holding the rope tied to the horse, despite his denying doing so in court today.

The police further reported that the others, the 3 minors, were heard shouting in the video, while Tyreek Straughan had the machete and was inflicting chop wounds on the horse, which belongs to 18-year-old Goldburn Maskall.

In the court, the young men were also charged for cattle theft, and all five accused young men pleaded not guilty to that charge.

In connection with the charges to which the young men pleaded guilty (cruelty to an animal and abetment to cruelty to an animal), a hearing will be held on May 5, 2025, when mitigation pleas will be submitted on behalf of the young men.

The court has ordered that a social worker prepare an SIR (Social Inquiry Report) on behalf of the minors.

During the arraignment of the teens, the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams objected to the granting of bail on the grounds of the prevalence of the crime, noting that in Belize we are living in a society where animals have become a part of our domestic living and despite that, we are seeing an unprecedented increase in the incidence of people being cruel to these domestic animals.

Williams added that in order to deter such cruel acts, the court needed to assist in sending a strong message to those who engage in these kinds of activities, as well as to those in the future who may wish to do so.

ComPol Williams also urged the court to look at the callousness with which the particular crime was committed.

He added that it was clear from the video footage evidence that was collected, that the young men had absolutely no regard for the life of that helpless horse on which they consistently inflicted machete wounds.

He recalled the words uttered by the group of men who were heard saying, “chop him”, and “like seh blood”.

And thirdly, reasoned ComPol Williams, these kinds of crimes shock the conscience of our society. He argued that the outrage expressed by the citizens must be taken into consideration; and, while he understood that the criminal justice system should not be persuaded by public outrage, he nevertheless cited a case from the CCJ for the sitting Senior Magistrate to consider in deciding whether to grant bail or not.

Despite his arguments, however, the sitting Magistrate granted all five young men bail in the sum of $2,500 each. In granting bail the Senior Magistrate said that while the court had heard all sides, the court was of the view that, “Bail is a right, and the purpose of bail should not be a punitive measure; and that detention of minors should be the last resort.”

The conditions of their bail are that they are not to interfere with the virtual complainant, even through any social media platforms or electronic devices, and are not to be within 100 yards of the complainant’s workplace, home or places he frequents. Additionally, defendant Straughan, Herbert and the 16-year-old are to report to the Racoon Street Police Station every Tuesday and Friday, effective next Tuesday, April 15, 2025; while the two 15-year-old minors who are students, are to report to the Hub every Wednesday of the week, effective next Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

All five were placed under curfew and are not to be outdoors after 8:00 p.m., effective immediately, ordered the Senior Magistrate.

They are also not to be arrested and charged with any other offenses whilst out on bail, or their bail could be revoked.