# Murder of Liam Ashley

On 24 August 2006, 17-year-old Liam Ashley was murdered by 25-year-old George Charlie Baker in Mount Eden, Auckland. The crime occurred inside a prison van bound for Mt Eden Remand Centre. The government and judicial authorities faced criticism for the case, particularly regarding the methods of transporting prisoners in New Zealand, as Ashley had committed minor non-violent offenses while Baker had a history of recidivism and violent crime.

## Background

Liam John Ashley was born on 17 May 1989 to Ian and Lorraine Ashley as the youngest of four children, and lived in North Shore City, Auckland with his parents. At age three, Ashley was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which he was prescribed ritalin beginning when he was five years old. He changed schools a minimum of three times due to behavioral and learning difficulties before being sent to Halswell Residential College in Christchurch. He left the school to attend regular schooling in Auckland at the request of his father in early May 2004. Nicknamed "Crazy Liam" by his friends, Ashley had experienced "minor trouble" with police related to public drinking and disorderly conduct, but was not noted in the youth justice court before the summer of 2006. One of Ashley's friends claimed that they had previously taken the car of Ashley's father for a joyride and dumped the vehicle in the sea after breaking its windows, though this went unreported by Ashley's parents, as they were unaware of their son's involvement.
On 30 June 2006, Ashley was arrested and charged by the North Shore District Court the next day with wilfull trespass, daylight burglary of property valued below $500 and possession of a knife in a public place. He was bailed on 3 July and reappeared in court on 26 July with additional charges of unlawful presence in enclosed yard or area, failure to comply with driving prohibition without a licence, failure to answer police bail and a second charge of wilful trespass. Ashley was again bailed the same day and on 18 August, three more charges were added, unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a pipe (for marajuana consumption) and a second charge of burglary. The motor theft charge was a result of Liam's parents pressing criminal charges against their son for using his mother's car without permission.
Ashley's parents denied bail so that their son would be sent to prison. They wished to correct the boy's behaviour, and prevent additional "minor misdemeanours." and his parents believed that the prison system would be the safest place for him.
On 20 August, Ashley was assessed through the Prison Youth Vulnerability Scale (PYVS) as a "high" vulnerabilty risk of 25, having scored 17 out of 24 points in "vulnerability to victimisation", but he was not separated from adult offenders on three different occasions, once on 21 August and twice on 24 August due to "breakdown [of protocol].

## Murder

On 24 August, Ashley was held in the same cell as George Charlie Baker of Whakatāne. Baker, a concrete fabricator by trade, had been released in March 2006 following seven-year imprisonment in prison with periodic psychiatric care, following his conviction for the assault of an elderly woman during a home invasion. He was being held on remand after pleading guilty for aggravated robbery and wounding with intent in connection with the stabbing of a teenager during an attempted mugging at a wharf in Beach Haven, North Shore City in April 2006. Baker was classified as a dangerous criminal and variously claimed affiliation with or membership in the Black Power and King Cobras gangs. Ashley and Baker were handcuffed together for several hours. Baker stated in court that he talked to Ashley during the stay and learnt that Ashley lived not far from where the stabbing occurred, concluding that Ashley could possibly be a witness that would testify against him in court. Baker had previously made explicit death threats via mail against the victim in the robbery and his family.
At 16:48 (UTC+12:00), prison authorities placed Ashley in one of four compartments of a prison van operated by Chubb Security, a company operating under contract with New Zealand officials. The van was scheduled to transport the prisoners from North Shore District Court to Auckland Central Remand Prison in Mount Eden. Ashley shared the compartment with two other men, including George Baker. The van made a 30 minute stop at Henderson Police Station at 17:15. Around five minutes after departure, at approximately 17:50, Baker attacked Ashley, stomping on the boy and strangling him between 10 and 15 minutes. The only witness to the scene, the other inmate identified as "Prisoner E", stated that Baker shouted "Fucking die, fucking die" and remarked “This guy is taking ages to die, he's breathing". The attack was only noticed at 18:05, when the truck arrived at its destination. Baker told officers "Get that fella out, I killed him" and "Uso [Samoan slang word for "brother"], you better pull that guy out I just killed him. He isn't breathing". An ambulance arrived 25 minutes later.
Ashley sustained severe brain injuries and was brought to Auckland Public Hospital. The following day, 25 August, at 10:30, his family chose to remove Ashley from life support; Liam Ashley died at 10:45.

## Aftermath

Baker was initially not named by the media until his conviction on 1 December 2006. He said that he attacked Ashley because he believed the boy was a "nark". Baker also alleged that the attack was not premeditated and that he and Ashley made an escape attempt in the truck. Baker claimed that both had tried to unsuccessfully ram open the truck doors and that he attacked Ashley when he refused to get the attention of officers by faking a seizure. "Prisoner E" confirmed Baker's account and added that Baker had tightened his grip on Ashley's throat when he realized that their arrival at ACRP was imminent. He freely admitted to killing Ashley and received a minimum 18 year life sentence. Damien O'Connor, the Minister of Corrections, described the fatal injury as "senseless" and "preventable." Errors had been made in Baker's documentation that would have otherwise required him to be separated from prisoners classed "at risk" such as Ashley.
Chubb, the security company that operated the van, faced criticism in the aftermath of the attack. In June 2007, the company announced that it no longer wished to transport prisoners as contracted with New Zealand authorities.
In 2007, John Belgrave, New Zealand Chief Ombudsman, and Mel Smith, the ombudsman of the Department of Corrections, conducted an inquiry into the department's policy for transporting prisoners. Belgrave described Corrections' prisoner transport policies as "inhumane", and ordered a review of the system. After the publication of the report, Simon Power, an Opposition Justice & Corrections spokesman, asked O'Connor to resign due to the shortcomings in his department. However, he stopped short of saying that O'Connor was directly responsible for Ashley's death. Power criticized the system for failing to keep Ashley, a first-time offender, and Baker, a high-risk prisoner, separated.
In response to Ashley's death, New Zealand authorities began testing waist restraints for prisoners.

### Further incidents involving Baker

Following his conviction, Baker remained in the public spotlight after several further violent incidents inside Auckland Prison. In July 2008, while being returned to Auckland Prison from Auckland City Hospital after treatment for self-inflicted injuries, Baker pulled a concealed shiv on a prison officer in an attempt to escape. The prison officer received minor injuries and Baker was returned to Auckland Prison. On 27 August 2009, Baker took a fellow inmate, an 83-year-old man convicted of sex offenses, hostage in Auckland Prison using a makeshift knife and two razor blades. He demanded to be taken to a less secure prison unit in return for the hostage's safety. Police managed to defuse the situation, and nobody was harmed. In 2010, Baker was found guilty on charges that resulted from these two incidents and was subsequently sentenced to preventive detention with no possibility of parole for at least 16 years. On 12 November 2016, Baker was involved in another stand-off at North Shore Hospital when he broke a window and used a glass shard to threaten officers and hospital staff.