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A British socialite, and partner of the son of British millionaire Tory peer Lord Ashcroft, says she had “no idea” the gun she was holding was loaded before shooting her police chief friend dead in Belize.

Jasmine Hartin, 32, (pictured on the right) was arrested after apparently accidentally shooting Belize police superintendent Henry Jemmott, 42 (pictured on the left), with his gun during a drinking session on May 28.

Hartin confessed to authorities that she was practising loading the gun when it went off and killed Jemmott, calling the ordeal a “living nightmare.”

She recounted the horrific chain of events, via Metro:

…she told police: “We’re sitting on the pier and I start loading and unloading his gun again.

“The last time I did it, he took the bullets as I was unloading and placed them on the left side of him. I then put the gun, with the magazine clipped inside it, besides me to the right.”

At one point, the 32-year-old reportedly moved behind Supt Jemmott to give him a shoulder rub, after which he suggested heading back into town and her to hand him the magazine so he could reload his weapon.

Ms Hartin is said to have added: “I picked up the gun and tried to eject the magazine clip but it was stuck.

“I struggled with it, trying to get the magazine out, when the gun suddenly went off. I had no idea it still had a bullet in the chamber.”

The New York Post describes more after Jemmott’s body allegedly fell back on top of her:

“I was pinned down and he was bleeding all over me,” she said. “As I was wriggling to get out from under him, to get free so I could check to see if he was OK, he slipped into the water.”

The pair had been friends for a few years and Jemmott had previously come to Hartin’s rescue on the night of May 22 when she was at a party and a strange man suddenly became aggressive towards her.

That’s when Jemmott allegedly told Hartin to get her own gun for her personal safety.

They had been practising with his gun until things took a turn for the worst six days later.

Jemmott, a father of five, was found in the water off the pier where they had allegedly been practising, with a single bullet wound to the head, and Hartin was charged with manslaughter by negligence.

The Daily Mail reports that Jemmott had been drinking all day, which begs the question of why he would have handed over his gun in such a state.

Meanwhile, Hartin is currently sitting in the notoriously tough Belize Central jail and has retained an attorney.

[sources:nypost&metro&dailymail]