Ashley Dale accused threated to stab her boyfriend at Glastonbury Festival

A man accused of the murder of a council worker threatened to stab her boyfriend at Glastonbury Festival, his co-defendant has told a court.

Ashley Dale, 28, was shot with a Skorpion machine pistol at home in Old Swan, Liverpool, at about 12.30am on August 21 last year, after an alleged feud between five men accused of her murder and her partner Lee Harrison.

Giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, defendant Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, said he was friends with Mr Harrison.

He told the jury that while attending Glastonbury in June 2022, co-accused Niall Barry had shown him a knife and told him he would stab Mr Harrison, known as Saz.

Fitzgibbon said Barry, 26, asked him if he had seen "Saz", before saying: "Tell him when you see him I'm going to stab him up."

He added: "He just pulled out a knife, showed he had a knife, put it back in his pocket."

Fitzgibbon, who told the court he was a cannabis dealer, said he replied "OK" to Barry after he made the threat.

He said: "I was just a bit shocked, I just wanted to get hold of Lee and tell him what's been said."

Asked why he wanted to tell Mr Harrison, he said: "I wouldn't want to see any harm come to Lee, he's my friend."

He described Barry as "drunk" and "off his head".

He told the court he had spoken to Mr Harrison the following day to "warn" him about Barry.

Asked if he was involved in organising the murder of Miss Dale, or targeting Mr Harrison, Fitzgibbon said: "No sir, never. Lee's been my friend for years, I'd never see no harm come to Lee or Ashley."

Katy Appleton, defending Barry, asked Fitzgibbon if he had been "stirring the pot" at Glastonbury.

Fitzgibbon replied: "No, he shouldn't have pulled a knife out on me really, should he? Lee's my friend."

Ms Appleton suggested Fitzgibbon had overheard Barry saying he would "stab them up", in reference to the group the Hillsiders, without hearing him specifically mention Mr Harrison.

Fitzgibbon said: "It's untrue, he knows in his heart what he said."

He accepted he had offered Mr Harrison a knife to "protect himself" from Barry.

When Ms Appleton suggested he was trying to "convince both sides" he was their friend, Fitzgibbon said: "I am friends with both sides."

During cross-examination by Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, Fitzgibbon said he remained on friendly terms with both Mr Harrison and Barry, and was "baffled" by the prosecution case against him.

He said: "The only time I've fell out with either of them is today when I've basically grassed on him (Barry) about pulling a knife out."

The court heard Fitzgibbon had been in a flat on Pilch Lane, Huyton, on the evening of August 20, with Barry and the three other men accused of the murder, Sean Zeisz, 28, Joseph Peers, 29, and James Witham, 41, before Peers and Witham left at 10.10pm.

The prosecution alleges the flat was the "centre of operations" for the murder plot and Peers and Witham left to carry out the shooting.

Fitzgibbon said he left the flat at 12.45am on August 21, before Peers and Witham returned, and found out Miss Dale had been shot the following morning when his sister rang him.

He said later that day Barry came round to his flat with Zeisz and told him Witham had killed Miss Dale.

He told the court: "I was shocked, I was angry, I was scared and I felt lied to."

Asked why he was scared, Fitzgibbon said: "I didn't want to get dragged into something I'm not involved in.

"Lee and all his friends are my mates. I don't want them trying to target me."

The court heard he flew to Dubai in the days after the murder.

Asked why he did not return to the UK until after he was extradited, he said: "I was scared. I know I should have come home and spoke to the police but I'm a coward for not."

Fitzgibbon, Barry, Zeisz, Peers and Witham, deny the murder of Miss Dale, conspiracy to murder Mr Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition.

Witham admits manslaughter.

Kallum Radford, 26, denies assisting an offender. Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.