WA white supremacist who killed Ashley Bropho had tried to kill paedophiles before, inquest hears

3 weeks ago 8

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following story contains an image of a deceased person.

An inquest into the death of child sex offender Ashley Bropho has heard prison staff didn’t know the white supremacist who killed him had previously been convicted of attempting to murder another inmate he believed to be a paedophile.

Evan James Martin, 45, was convicted of murdering Ashley James Bropho, 40, in Hakea Prison in 2023, brutally assaulting him inside his own cell while both men were meant to be in protective custody.

The coronial inquest is investigating whether Martin should have been housed with Bropho despite previously showing violence towards child sex offenders, and how prison officers failed to pick up Bropho had been bashed by Martin just 12 hours before he came back to kill him.

Counsel assisting the coroner Daniel McDonald said Martin had been responsible for four assaults on other prisoners during his time behind bars – two who had been on Australia’s National Child Offenders Register.

Martin had also been sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2021 for the attempted murder of another prisoner he believed to be a paedophile, after he fashioned the weapons and helped plan the attack.

The court heard Martin had been in the general population at Albany Regional Prison following the attempted murder, until it was determined he needed to go back to protective custody due to his Neo-Nazi tattoos.

As a result, Martin was kept in the same units as a number of inmates charged with sexual offences despite his previous record of violence.

On the evening of Bropho’s death – the same day as his sentencing and subsequent media coverage that linked him to his step-brother, Cleo Smith abductor Terrence Kelly – the coroner heard Martin had called Bropho’s offending “disgusting” and declared his intention to kill him.

Bropho was convicted of luring a nine-year-old girl from a Doubleview park and assaulting her and exposing himself to her once inside his home. The incident, described in court as “every parent’s worst nightmare”, was interrupted by his carer entering the house.

Ashley Bropho lured a nine-year-old child away from a Doubleview park in 2023.

Following media coverage of the offending, Martin went to Bropho’s cell and bashed him.

Officers locked down the prison for the evening, but a welfare check failed to determine Bropho had been injured.

Just 12 hours later, Martin reentered Bropho’s cell and bashed him to death. He was only found dead after he failed to collect his regular medicine.

A prison officer at Hakea who had overseen the arrangements for Bropho and Martin to live in the same block said the two men had lived together previously without incident and there was nothing to indicate they could not be housed together.

He said he often did not look up prisoner’s charges before they came to his unit in a bid to treat them all equally, and was unaware of Martin’s attempted murder conviction when he and Bropho were moved together.

“Had you become aware of Martin’s charge or conviction when he was in [your unit] would you have taken any steps towards his protection status?” Coroner Brendyn Nelson asked.

“Given what the charges were, I’d thought there would have been some sort of review done regarding his placement as well,” the officer said.

Lawyers for Bropho’s family questioned the decision to move Bropho from one protective unit to another, given media reporting had been extensive and had created tension across both protective units in Hakea.

A second prison officer reiterated Bropho had to be moved because he had become subject of abuse and threats following his sentencing, and said he never had any indication Martin posed a threat.

Ashley Bropho, as depicted by an artist, during one of his court appearances.

“We discussed … any possibility [Bropho] may be under threat in unit 10. Nothing appeared on the alerts, so nothing prevented him from moving,” he said.

“[If there had been an alert] I’d never have let him in … but it’s pretty restricted where protective prisoners could go.”

He agreed he also did not look up Martin’s charges.

“There’s hundreds of prisoners, I don’t look at the reasons they’ve been incarcerated,” he said.

The officer said if the first assault on Bropho was picked up during regular welfare checks, he would have been taken him to the crisis care unit, but it appeared it had not been conducted properly.

Both prison officers said the alert system was limited in the information it could store, staffing problems were prolific and capacity could sometimes cause security issues.

The inquest continues.

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