ECHOES OF LIAM - THE SAD DEATH OF YOUNG NEW ZEALANDER, LIAM ASHLEY IN 2006. R.I.P.

The following story was written and posted on now defunct blogsites in 2006. It was one of the saddest stories I have ever written about.
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A most tragic case of parents tough love gone so sadly wrong - their youngest son loses his life!

A 17 yr old Auckland, New Zealand,youth was facing a charge of unlawfully converting his mother's car. His parents decided albeit wisely or unwisely, to try and teach their youngest son some responsibility for his actions. They persuaded the District Court judge to remand him in custody and enable him to gain some first hand knowledge of the justice system - a little time at the coalface, if you like!

The youth, named Liam Ashley, was transported from the court with 13 other remand prisoners in a private security company's van which was divided into four compartments - there has not yet any reason given to why the Corrections Department did not transport the prisoners to the remand prison - and Liam was put into one of the compartments with two other men, one of whom was a violent gang member with a string of 80 convictions behind him.

That man has now been arrested for Liam's death after allegedly beating and strangling the youth to death with his handcuffs on the way to the remand prison.

The 25 yr old man is understood to be a member of a notorious local gang with convictions for firearms offences, escaping from custody and aggravated robbery.

His last court appearance which resulted in him being in the same security van as young Liam, was for aggravated robbery and wounding with intent, and had to be accompanied to court by four armed guards because of his violent history and unpredictability.

How on earth was the youth, who has had no previous offences,placed with such a felon?

The devastated family find the situation that led to their son's death, untenable, intolerable and unacceptable under any circumstances, and obviously negligent. They, too,wonder just how their son could have been placed in the van with such a person.They do not need any reminding that it was their initial decision to have their son put into custody, when he could have been bailed.

When the van had arrived at the remand prison Liam had not been breathing. Ambulance officers managed to resuscitate him, but such was the severity of his subsequent brain damage the family later had his life support turned off.

A post mortem established the cause of death and an enquiry will be held to determine why Liam was put in the van with such a violent prisoner.

A devastated family continues to grieve for the death of their youngest son in such circumstances.

The prisoner has now been officially charged with the murder of the youth who had his own challenges; he was an at risk youth who had been assessed with ADHD earlier in his young life, something that undoubtably created its own difficulties.

Updates to the story:

The prisoner was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. An appeal aganst his sentence was denied in 2007.

Young Liam's sad death has resulted in a number of changes to the transportation of prisoners in New Zealand. The private company previously involved has not had its contract extended. The Corrections Department itself will assume this role in future, as was done back in the days of the old Prison Service.

Prisoners will be manacled while being transported in future.

Nothing will bring young Liam back,but let's hope his death was not all in vain. The changes that have been made by the NZ Corrections Department should ensure that the situation that led up to Liam's death will not be able to be repeated.

Even in retrospect,I don't blame Liam's mother for the decision she made; it was made out of love and concern for her at risk young son.

My Write Niche

The following story is from the national news and suggests a chilling echo of the prison van murder of 17 year old Liam Ashley some months ago. There has to be a shake up of the Corrections Department after this latest controversial act as reported below. The National Party when in government, formed the Corrections Department from the Justice Department some years ago. Whether that was a short sighted decision is hard to say, but it is obviously not working satisfactorily at present and needs an enquiry. There have been a variety of criticisms about the department, and the running of prisons in its care - we would believe that drugs are rampart in New Zealand prisons. So Prime Minister Helen Clark and her Cabinet will have to hold an enquiry very soon, and John Key and his cohorts will have to be very retrospect in their criticisms of the running of the Corrections Department. Time will tell, no doubt! Please read on:


Police are investigating the alleged rape of a minimum security prison inmate by a notorious double-rapist gang member after the two men were put in the same cell.
The case chillingly echoes the prison van murder of teen Liam Ashley.
The victim of the Waikeria Prison alleged rape is a slightly built European man in jail on dishonesty offences, including credit card fraud.
His attacker is said to be Black Power gangster William Wii Katipa, 41, who has been convicted of two rapes, aggravated robbery, threatening to kill and assault. He has spent much of his adult life in prison and committed a number of the offences while on parole or bail.
A prison source said: "They never should have been put in the same cell. (The alleged victim) was a minimum security prisoner but was put in a cell with a dangerous prisoner who had a high-medium security rating the second-highest security rating in the system.
"(The alleged victim) had asked to be transferred from Waikeria to (lower security) Rangipo Prison but was told by prison staff that he was facing more charges and he had to stay at Waikeria."
He learned later - after the alleged rape - that there were no more charges, said the source.
The minimum security inmate - understood to have been suicidal since the alleged attack - had said he was raped by Katipa in the cell on two separate occasions last October, according to the source.
The fraudster said the gang member - jailed for raping a teenager and now serving an indefinite sentence for raping a woman in front of her young daughter - blocked the peep-hole into the cell before sexually assaulting his cell-mate.
He said while he was being raped, a prison guard doing rounds challenged the Black Power member about the blocked peep-hole but continued his patrol when told the gang member was going to the toilet.
"The bottom line is, somebody didn't do their job and put this guy in harm's way," the source said.
"It's like another Liam Ashley."
The jail rapes allegedly happened less than six weeks after 17-year-old Liam was bashed and strangled to death in the back of a Chubb prison van by hardened 25-year-old criminal George Charlie Baker last August 24.
Liam was placed in a compartment with the violent Baker, despite explicit Corrections regulations designed to keep adults and youths apart.
The source said the alleged rape victim, a 27-year-old from a middle- class background, made an official complaint to prison staff and police. He was examined by a nurse and swabs were taken for DNA evidence.
"When he went back to the prison, the staff put him in another wing. He was suicidal at one stage and didn't like mixing with other prisoners because he was scared."
The alleged victim, also understood to have written to the Parole Board, the Ombudsman and the Inspector of Prisons, has since been transferred to Rangipo.
Cambridge police detective Rob Woolerton confirmed an investigation had begun into the prison rape allegations.
"We did receive a complaint, which is still under investigation," Woolerton said. "We hope to complete it in a couple of months."