Roger Wallis, accused of kidnapping attempt
BELIZE CITY, Fri. Oct. 5, 2018– On Friday, October 5, after he heard submissions from Hurl Hamilton, the attorney for British national, Roger Victor Robert Wallis, 63, charged for an attempted kidnapping, and Senior Crown Counsel Sheiniza Smith, Justice Adolph Lucas adjourned the hearing until Friday, October 12, in order to give the Crown time to provide statements and affidavits containing the facts of the case.
Wallis, a businessman who was residing on Commissioner Street in Belmopan, is accused of attempting to kidnap a 12-year-old boy, an American national, on Monday, September 24, between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 12:18 p.m.
The boy’s mother, a 44-year-old American woman, reported to the police that at around midday, her son and her two daughters, ages 14 and 8, came home from school in Belmopan with dirt on their uniforms. She said that the uniform of her older daughter was torn.
She said that when she asked them what had happened, they told her that while they were walking on George Price Boulevard, they were approached by a Caucasian man driving a white van who offered them a ride.
They said they refused, and the sisters said the man made a U-turn, stopped the vehicle near them and grabbed their brother by his right arm and tried to force him into the van. A struggle then ensued between the man and the children and during the struggle, the man pushed them, to the ground and quickly got back in the van and drove away.
The police investigated the report and based on their findings, they arrested and charged Wallis on September 28.
Wallis was denied bail when he appeared in the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court on October 1. He was remanded into custody until December 3.
In his submissions for bail, Hamilton said that Wallis is the owner of a business, Area 52 Entertainment, and he has been living in Belize for the past 3 years. He said that Wallis is not a flight risk and that he has applied for permanent residence in Belize, and he has also applied to become a registered voter.
Senior Crown Counsel Smith did not object to the granting of bail to Wallis.