By Breaking Belize News Staff: For the second time in less than two weeks, a Belize City man who uses a knife for fishing-related work has found himself before the Magistrate’s Court on a charge of possessing an article with a blade.
The latest case involves 31-year-old Alexander Turcious, a fisherman from the Belama area, whose guilty plea was rejected on Monday, October 26, after he explained that he had been working with his uncle and forgot he was still carrying his knife.
According to police, officers conducting a mobile patrol on Coney Drive stopped and searched Turcious, discovering a silver knife that was subsequently measured at nine inches.
During his arraignment, Turcious initially pleaded guilty but told the magistrate that he had been working as a fisherman with his uncle and had forgotten to leave the knife at home.
The magistrate rejected his plea after determining that his explanation raised a possible defence to the charge. The matter will now proceed to trial, where the prosecution must establish its case.
The incident comes just 12 days after Breaking Belize News reported that 52-year-old Denroy Ingram, a homeless man who uses a kitchen knife to scrape fish, was fined $155 after police found him carrying a three-inch blade near the intersection of George and Orange Streets around 1:15 a.m.
Unlike Turcious, Ingram pleaded guilty and his plea was accepted, despite explaining that he used the knife to clean fish.
Under Belize’s Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act, possession of certain bladed articles in public between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. is prohibited unless a lawful excuse applies, raising questions about how the law affects people whose occupations require them to carry knives.
Turcious was granted bail of $2,000, which he met, but was first required to settle an outstanding $55 fine stemming from a previous loitering conviction.
He is scheduled to return to court on November 30, 2026.
The post Second fisherman recently charged for carrying work-knife after forgetting he had it on him appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: For the second time in less than two weeks, a Belize City man who uses a knife for fishing-related work has found himself before the Magistrate’s Court on a charge of possessing an article with a blade. The latest case involves 31-year-old Alexander Turcious, a fisherman from the Belama area,
The post Second fisherman recently charged for carrying work-knife after forgetting he had it on him appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
