Patrick Garbutt, a 28-year-old boat captain, has been accused of attacking a coworker with a knife. Reports are that the attack happened on Saturday, August 17, 2019 at the exit of Old Belize in which Garbutt allegedly attacked 42-year-old Enrique Depaz. Depaz, a law enforcement officer with the Belize Port Authority (BPA), reported to the police on the following day that he and a coworker were returning from a retreat on Caye Caulker when he was attacked. They were reportedly walking toward the compound’s exit when he felt two hits to the left side of his face. Depaz says that when he turned around, he saw Garbutt with what appeared to be a switch blade in his hand. He then realized that he had been stabbed twice to the face, and began to bleed. Depaz further claimed that Garbutt again stabbed him, this time to his hand.
For the alleged incident, for which police have not yet been able to establish a motive, Garbutt was arraigned before Magistrate Emmerson Banner on Monday, August 19, 2019. He was read a charge of wounding to which he pleaded not guilty. Garbutt was offered bail of $500 plus one surety of the same which he was able to meet. He is due back in court on October 1, 2019. Should he be found guilty of the crime, he faces a prison sentence of as many as seven years.
