John Ashfield's sister won't forgive or forget

By Veronica Apap
Updated November 6 2012 - 2:19am, first published June 10 2011 - 11:06am
Melissa Ashfield will never forgive her mother for brutally bashing her six-year-old brother, John.
Melissa Ashfield will never forgive her mother for brutally bashing her six-year-old brother, John.

When Melissa Ashfield puts her son to bed at night, she still wonders how her mother could have killed her own child 18 years ago in one of the state's most heinous murders."I can never forget what she did," Ms Ashfield said yesterday."I will never forgive her and I will always hate her."Ms Ashfield's brother John was only six when he was brutally tortured and murdered by his mother and her de facto Austin Allan Hughes in August 1993 at their Nowra home.The boy was left with 105 bruises covering his small body after the frenzied attack.His mother - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - and Hughes eventually pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 19 years' jail.Hughes walked free in December 2009 and on Thursday the NSW State Parole Authority signalled it was likely to give John's mother conditional freedom in coming months.Yesterday Ms Ashfield said she would have preferred her mother remain behind bars."How can you look at your own flesh and blood and be able to murder?" she asked."I put my son to bed and I think: 'How can you do that?' At the end of the day that's your child, you make the choice to have kids."John's mother had five children by the time she was 25 and had begun a relationship with Hughes.On the day of the attack, John returned home from school only to be kicked, punched, beaten with a hammer and have his head slammed into a tiled wall repeatedly in a vicious attack that lasted hours.He was finally taken to hospital and died the next day of brain injuries.Initially, Hughes and his de facto wife said John had been attacked by a gang as he walked to the corner store.When the pair's true role was revealed, the Shoalhaven community was outraged at the savage attack by those entrusted with his care and there were calls for the murderers to be sentenced to death.Now, Ms Ashfield said she hoped when her mother was freed, she stayed away from family."I always knew she would get out, even though it makes me angry and it hurts me, I need to put it behind me," she said."I will never forget but I have to put it behind me and focus on my family."

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