Charles Ng, who spent his teenage years staying with relatives in New Longton, was sentenced to death in California for the murders of 11 people, including two babies.

A notorious serial killer who once lived in a picturesque South Ribble village could escape execution by lethal injection after more than 27 years languishing on California’s death row.

Charles Ng, 65, who spent his school holidays in New Longton, near Preston, is among 548 condemned prisoners whose death sentences Governor Gavin Newsom wants to commute to life imprisonment without parole.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to commute the death sentences of 548 prisoners, potentially sparing former New Longton resident Charles Ng from execution | Yui Mok/PA Wire

placeholder image — California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to commute the death sentences of 548 prisoners, potentially sparing former New Longton resident Charles Ng from execution | Yui Mok/PA Wire

Ng was sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering 11 people – six men, three women and two baby boys – in a series of killings with accomplice Leonard Lake.

But decades before the crimes, Ng had spent his teenage years in Lancashire.

Born in Hong Kong to a wealthy family, he came to England in 1977 to attend Bentham Grammar School in North Yorkshire as a boarder. During the holidays, he stayed with his uncle Rufus Good and aunt Bernie at their home in Station Road, New Longton.

New Longton, where Charles Ng spent school holidays with his uncle Rufus Good and aunt Bernie at their home in Station Road during the 1970s | Getty

His family had reportedly sent him abroad after expulsions from schools in Hong Kong. In a 1985 Associated Press report, former Bentham headmaster John Hagan recalled Ng being caught stealing money from another pupil, while a teacher remembered boys avoiding him.

Bentham Grammar School in North Yorkshire, where Charles Ng was a boarder in the late 1970s. Former teachers later recalled his troubled behaviour | IconicMedia

Ng later moved to the United States, joined the Marines and became associated with Lake, a former Marine and survivalist.

Ng and Lake abducted, tortured and murdered victims between 1984 and 1985 at a remote property near Wilseyville, in northern California. Investigators discovered human remains and videotapes documenting abuse of captive women. Ng was just 23 when the killing spree began.

Their crimes came to light after Lake was arrested in June 1985 following an attempted theft from a hardware store. He swallowed cyanide in custody and died days later. Ng fled to Canada, where he was arrested the following month.

After a six-year extradition battle, he was returned to the US in 1991. He was convicted of 11 murders in February 1999 and sentenced to death that June. California's Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2022.

Ng spent decades at the notorious San Quentin Prison before a transfer, reported earlier this year, to the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. A 2012 Lancashire Post report revealed that a letter he had written from a Canadian prison was advertised online for £395, while origami butterflies attributed to him were offered for $90.

San Quentin prison in California, where Charles Ng spent decades on death row before being transferred to another prison earlier this year | Getty Images

According to the BBC, California has not executed anyone since 2006. Newsom imposed a moratorium in 2019 and on Thursday (November 5) announced plans to commute all 548 death sentences.

He said state-sanctioned killing was incompatible with California's values. However, 382 proposed commutations require Supreme Court approval, and it remains unclear whether Ng’s has taken effect.

Even if his death sentence is lifted, he would spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.