Murder of Liam Ashley

On 24 August 2006, 17-year-old Liam Ashley was fatally assaulted by 25-year-old George Charlie Baker inside a prison van transporting both men toward Auckland Central Remand Prison in Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand. Ashley had been remanded in custody on minor, non-violent charges, while Baker had an extensive record of violent offending. The case drew national scrutiny of how New Zealand transported prisoners and kept young offenders separate from adults.

Liam John Ashley was the youngest of four children and had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in early childhood, attending several specialist schools before working for his father's car-detailing business. In mid-2006 he was arrested and charged with a series of property and public-order offences, including trespass, burglary and taking family vehicles without permission. On 24 August 2006 he appeared before Judge Barbara Morris in the North Shore District Court, pleaded guilty to most charges, and was denied bail after his counsel indicated he had no suitable address to which he could be released; the court was assured he would be held in a youth wing away from adult prisoners. Days earlier, an assessment had rated him a "high" vulnerability risk.

Later investigations found Ashley had not been kept separate from adult offenders on three occasions. On the afternoon of 24 August he was placed in a compartment of a van operated by Chubb Security, a Department of Corrections contractor, alongside Baker and a third prisoner who witnessed the events. During the journey Baker assaulted Ashley over a period of roughly 10 to 15 minutes. The attack was discovered when the van reached its destination and staff opened the compartment; officers performed CPR until an ambulance arrived. Ashley was taken to Auckland Public Hospital with severe brain injuries and died the following day, 25 August, after his family agreed to withdraw life support.

Baker, who was not publicly named until his conviction, admitted killing Ashley but maintained that the attack had not been premeditated. On 1 December 2006 he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.

Ashley's death prompted political condemnation and several inquiries. Prime Minister Helen Clark called it "an extremely shocking event," and Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor described it as "senseless" and "preventable." In 2007, Chief Ombudsman John Belgrave and Ombudsman Mel Smith examined the department's transport policy, which Belgrave described as "inhumane," and authorities began trialling waist restraints and reviewing the separation of youth and adult prisoners. Chubb withdrew from prisoner transport in June 2007, and in January 2009 the Ashley family received an undisclosed settlement from the Department of Corrections.