KEY POINTS:
The family of North Shore teenager Liam Ashley, who was murdered in the back of a prison truck, said they were being treated like "imbeciles" after it was announced that the Corrections Department report into his death had been delayed again.
The investigation was to be completed today after initially being set down for October 20.
Instead, it is still in draft form and will now be released at an as yet unknown date.
Liam was bashed and strangled to death on August 24 after being put in a compartment of the truck with a violent and hardened criminal contrary to explicit regulations which should have kept adults and youths apart.
His killer, who has name suppression, has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced next month.
Liam's family learnt they would not be receiving the report through the Herald yesterday, with his father Ian saying: "As if we didn't know it already, they [Corrections] simply don't care about us.
"They only care about putting the best spin on their messed-up organisation. They won't even give us the privilege of telling us there is another delay."
Mr Ashley said a phone call he placed with Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews earlier this week had not been returned.
It was Mr Matthews who provided yesterday's statement to the Herald saying the report was in draft form, but would be delayed while it went through a "verification process" before being provided to the Ashley family and the media. Mr Ashley said he believed the "verification" of the report meant "statements will be omitted and legal jargon inserted".
"They are still treating us as if we are imbeciles. I have to ask the question: are they trying to manipulate the findings?"
The report has been conducted by the Inspector of Corrections, Louise MacDonald.
Mr Ashley added: "It has been 14 weeks since my son's death and they are claiming that they still can't get the simple answers of who made the mistake of putting my son in that van and why they made that mistake. It really is quite ridiculous."
