Court orders psychiatric evaluation for Orange Walk man charged with burning his grandmother’s house down

Published by BBNTEAM at February 23, 2023

Tags

Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2023. 10:07 am CST.

By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Belize City Magistrate’s Court has ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine if 27-year-old Barkley Allen Jr. is mentally capable of standing trial.

Allen appeared before Senior Magistrate Baja Shoman today, charged with one count of arson, one count of harm, and one count of breaching a protection order.

The Senior Magistrate explained the charges to him several times but Allen continually said that he did not understand them so the prosecutor requested that the evaluation be conducted while Allen is on remand at the Belize Central Prison.

The court granted the order and set the date for his next appearance in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court for May 31. During his arraignment, it was disclosed that Allen has four previous convictions all of which ended in fines amounting to $2,010 that he did not pay. Magistrate Shoman then ordered that a warrant be issued for him to serve out his fines as prison time.

Allen allegedly attacked his 61-year-old grandmother inside her home in Orange Walk on Thursday, February 16. Apart from injuring her, he also allegedly lit the 23×11 mobile home on fire.

During media interviews, Allen’s family said that he has a history of mental illness.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.