Baby Ru case: Man charged over CCTV removal on day baby died

News
Crime

Author: Catherine Hutton ,
Publish Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2026, 1:45pm

A man has appeared in court in relation to the death of Ruthless-Empire Ahipene-Wall, known as Baby Ru, who died just before his second birthday in October 2023.

A man has appeared in court charged in connection with the death of Baby Ru.

It’s been three years since toddler Baby Ru, known as Nga Reo Te Huatahi Reremoana Ahipene-Wall, died from severe head injuries at Hutt Hospital.

Baby Ru was living at a Taitā house with three people when he suffered blunt force trauma to his head.

Police previously said they are confident one person inflicted those injuries on October 22, two days before Baby Ru’s second birthday, but nobody had given police “a full, truthful account” of what happened that day.

After the man’s arrest yesterday, he appeared in the Lower Hutt District Court today charged with wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice by removing and disposing of a CCTV system from Poole St, Taitā, the day Baby Ru died.

The charge carries a maximum of seven years’ jail.

The man’s lawyer Kevin Smith indicated his client would plead not guilty, and said he needed more time to speak to his client.

Bail was opposed by police.

Judge Michael Mika remanded the man in custody and granted him name suppression until his next appearance later this month, when he is expected to enter a plea.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.