Liam Ashley

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Case Details

Crime: Murder (Murder in custody (prison van))
Location: Mount Eden, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Date: 2006-08-24
Victim(s): Liam John Ashley
Perpetrator(s): George Charlie Baker
Motive: Baker believed Ashley was a 'nark' who might testify against him
Verdict: Baker pleaded guilty to murder on 1 December 2006.
Sentence: Life imprisonment with minimum non-parole period of 18 years. Baker subsequently received preventive detention for further violent offending in prison.
Evidence: Eyewitness account from surviving inmate David Olds, autopsy confirming strangulation and blunt force trauma, prison classification records showing errors in Baker's documentation
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On 24 August 2006, 17-year-old Liam Ashley was murdered by 25-year-old George Charlie Baker in a prison transport van in Auckland. Ashley, a first-time offender on remand for minor charges including taking his mother's car, was placed in the same compartment as Baker, a dangerous criminal with 79 prior convictions. Baker strangled and stomped on Ashley during the journey from court to Auckland Central Remand Prison, believing the teenager was a potential witness against him. Ashley died the following day after his family removed him from life support. His parents had pressed charges hoping a night in cells would correct his behaviour. Baker pleaded guilty and received life with an 18-year non-parole period. The Chief Ombudsman's inquiry described prisoner transport policies as 'inhumane' and the case prompted major reforms to prisoner transport safety, segregation protocols, and the eventual withdrawal of private contractor Chubb Security from prisoner transport.

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