_{Photo: (l-r) Mother, Irene Budd, left; her daughter Ormencia Pou-Swift and her son, Aaron Fuentes to the back in white shirt}

Mother, Irene Budd, 68, and her daughter, Ormencia Pou-Swift, 45, must serve 2 years in prison; while her son, Aaron Fuentes is a free man.

BELIZE CITY, Fri. July 26, 2024

Tonight, a Sandhill family of 3—Ormencia Pou-Swift, 45; her mother, Irene Budd, 68; and her brother, 34-year-old, Aaron Fuentes—appeared in the High Court of Justice Nigel Pilgrim to be sentenced for the offense of grievous harm, for which they were found guilty by a jury of nine (7 women and 2 men) on April 24, 2024.

Attorney for the women, Norman Rodriguez, was not present due to sickness; however, attorney Darrell Bradley of Lavenders Chambers who represented Aaron Fuentes, Budd’s son, appeared in court for the sentencing.

Justice Pilgrim, after outlining the facts of the case, ruled that Pou-Swift and Budd, daughter and mother, respectively, who had been on remand, would have to spend 2 more years in prison, which is to take effect from April 24, 2024, when they were found guilty of the lesser charge of grievous harm, after having been indicted initially for the offense of attempted murder upon Gilbert Blair.

Fuentes, Budd’s son, who had been remanded to jail for a period of almost 2 years, was told he was a free man after 2 years were deducted from his sentence due to the judge’s consideration of mitigating factors and his good character, and his time on remand was considered time served.

The Crown’s allegations against the family were that on September 4, 2011, almost 13 years ago, Aaron Fuentes had a conflict with Blair at around 8:30 p.m., whilst at A&C Restaurant in Sandhill. There they had an argument that led to a vicious attack outside the restaurant, which escalated in intensity after Fuentes, who had initially left the area, returned with a machete and chopped Blair on his hand, which severed his pinky finger.

The Crown further alleged that during the fight, Fuentes was joined by his mother and sister, who also administered a beating on Blair.

It is further alleged that Irene Budd, who was armed with an iron bar, hit Blair several times on the body, while her daughter, Ormencia Pou, hit him in his mouth, which caused two of his teeth to fall out.

Pou, it is alleged, then used force to partially rip out one of Blair’s eyes with her fingers.

And from the witness stand, Blair, who lost his left eye, identified his attackers as the mother, son and daughter.

Blair, from the witness stand, said he went to A&C Restaurant to buy food, and whilst waiting for his food, he drank some beers with friends who were there.

At that time, he said, he saw Aaron Fuentes, someone whom he knew well, and that’s when he recalled some hostility between him and Fuentes’ family, and so Blair said he moved from where he was and went to another seat in the restaurant.

According to Blair, shortly after, he noticed that Aaron Fuentes seemed to have left, but said he returned later with a machete which he aimed at him, and to avoid being hit in his face, he raised his hand, and that’s when he was chopped on the right hand, which led to him losing his right pinky finger.

Blair said he then picked up a bottle and faked Fuentes with it. Then he stoned Fuentes with the bottle, and he fell with the machete.

Fuentes, after getting back up, tried to pick up the machete, when another person, known only as TD, took hold of the machete.

Fuentes began to run, said Blair, to get away, and when he reached near the light, that’s when he saw Fuentes’ mother, Irene, coming toward him armed with an iron bar, and his sister, Ormencia Pou, armed with a hammer.

Blair said that as he walked past Fuentes, he grabbed him from behind, and Pou hit him in the head with the hammer, and Irene Budd hit him in his back.

And Blair said that, despite his agonized cries, Aaron Fuentes joined in and beat him too.

During the attack, he recalled seeing Pou hitting him in his mouth, then she took her fingers and ripped out his left eye.

Blair told the court that when Pou ripped out his eye, she said, “this is because you said you would burn down my house”.

Blair also told the court that Irene Budd also tried to rip out his other eye, but was unsuccessful. Blair said he managed to escape and made his way to the hospital.

Justice Pilgrim arrived at the sentence which he handed down to Pou-Swift and Budd after considering the serious physical and financial harm that was inflicted on Blair, who lost vision in one of his eyes. In Blair’s Victim Impact Statement he told the court that he was not able to work between 2011 and 2016, so he was not able to financially care for his family. The judge also noted that Blair was violently attacked with a deadly instrument, to wit, a machete, a hammer and a piece of iron; and he considered as well the location of the injuries inflicted on Blair, who was hit in the head after being attacked by all 3 family members. The judge classified the act as premeditated, cowardly, heinous and animalistic.

Justice Pilgrim looked at cases from the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of April 12, 2021, and he noted that the convicts are considered to have inflicted violence to cause grievous harm upon Blair, which was classified as Category 2 because of the deadly weapons used.

And so, due to the heinous nature of the offense, his starting point for the sentences of the two women was 3.7 years.

In Pou-Swift’s case, the report by the doctor who examined her noted that she was not suffering from any mental issues on the day of the attack. Her mitigating factors included the fact that she had no previous convictions; her social inquiry report was good; she grew up in a single-parent household and was active in her community playing sports, etc;

Further deduction was granted to Pou-Swift in the amount of 6 more months for the delay and breach of her constitutional rights to a quick trial, as their matter took almost 12 years, more than a decade to be tried; and so, Pou-Swift’s final prison term left to be served is 2 years, ordered Justice Pilgrim.

In the case of her mother, similar facts were taken into consideration, including Budd’s age, being an elderly senior citizen of 68-years-old; her good character (she had no previous convictions); her good social inquiry report (she was a fisherwoman and described to be a very sweet and kind woman); and her medical condition (she had suffered a stroke). Also, she had expressed remorse for her actions; and so, she will have to serve only 2 more years in prison.

The three family members were found guilty by a 9-member jury of grievous harm, but had all initially been indicted on the charge of attempted murder.

In the trial, Fuentes was represented by attorney Darrell Bradley, while his mother and sister were represented by attorney Ellis Arnold; but, after they were found guilty, the daughter and mother retained the services of attorney Norman Rodriguez to represent them in mitigation plea proceedings.

According to the Crown’s evidence, Blair is left without vision in his left eye.

Doctor Valdez testified that Blair’s eye was out of his eye socket when he examined him. He was seen with injuries to his finger; and injury to his buttocks.

The doctor also said that the persons who caused Blair’s injuries had to have been very close to him, and force had to have been used to cause such injuries to his eye.