Grieving parents want apology for son's death

The personal toll is starting to tell on the family of Liam Ashley, with the teenager's mother rushed to hospital last week suffering from exhaustion - and anger mounting over Chubb's failure to apologise for the 17-year-old's murder a fortnight ago.

Liam died after being strangled in a Chubb Security van en route to Auckland Central Remand Prison in Mt Eden on August 24. Five separate inquiries have been launched and a 25-year-old Onehunga concrete worker, granted interim name suppression, has been charged with Liam's murder.

He will reappear in the Auckland District Court this Thursday.

Yesterday, Ian and Lorraine Ashley spoke of the enormous toll Liam's death had placed on the family, and of their frustrations with security firm Chubb NZ Ltd.

The Ashleys had pressed "tough love" charges against Liam, after he stole his mother's Jaguar, in the hope the experience would put him back on the straight and narrow.

Ian Ashley said he wanted answers about the death of his son so "I can sleep and go back to work".

The family is still waiting for a response to a series of questions they put to Chubb and the Department of Corrections a fortnight ago

"Our family will never be the same. [Liam] has been tragically taken away from us and he has been taken away before time.

"He was going to be someone great, but I did not expect him to be someone great in death. It's too soon and that is a tragedy."

Ian revealed his wife had been rushed to hospital last week with exhaustion, and he doubted she would ever be back to her old self, "back to where she needs to be".

Thirteen remand prisoners were inside the van when Liam was fatally bashed. Despite clear protocols, he was not separated from serious adult offenders at the time of transportation.

Liam was locked into one of four compartments in the back of the van with two others, one classified as a dangerous criminal, for the trip from North Shore District Court to Mt Eden.

Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor has ordered prisoners under the age of 18 not be transported in the same compartment as adult prisoners.

Lorraine Ashley said a fortnight after Liam's death she was still feeling horrendous guilt. She was angry the two guards in the Chubb van at the time Liam was beaten were now back at work, saying they should be forced to stand down while inquiries by the Ombudsman, Corrections, police, the coroner and Chubb were ongoing.

"How could you not hear what went on in the back [of the van]?

"They are in the front and Liam is being thrown around and strangled and murdered in the back. How can you not hear that?" She said all she wanted from Chubb was a simple apology: "How long does it take for someone to say 'I'm sorry, but I stuffed up'?"

Ian Ashley said Chubb was hiding behind the inquiry into Liam's death.

He agreed with his wife, saying "a simple sorry doesn't cost anything".

"The hardcore facts were that my son was in one of their prison trucks and he was murdered.

"That is the plain and simple fact of the matter," he said.

"No one is telling us anything. I need every single person who was involved with my son the day he died to come forward and tell the truth. Someone has to stop the nonsense in this country and that is all there is to it. If you have got people inside an organisation who are not following the rules, then more people will die."

The Ashleys have hired their own lawyer to ensure the proper processes are followed for the five inquiries currently underway.

Ian Ashley said he had taken that step because he wanted to ensure no other children were killed in the same circumstances as Liam. He was also not confident he would get the answers he was seeking unless he had his own independent legal advice.

He did not want to be portrayed as a crusader, he said, but he believed it was important to try to facilitate change for Liam's sake.

"I still have to get up every morning and focus on what is right and wrong," he said.