Four men found guilty of murdering Knowsley council worker Ashley Dale
28-year-old Ashley Dale was shot dead in her home
Last updated 20th Nov 2023
Four men have been found guilty of the murder of Ashley Dale in Old Swan, Liverpool.
The 28-year-old environmental health officer died after being shot in the abdomen in her back garden in the early hours of 21 August 2022.
James Witham, 41, had admitted manslaughter and being the gunman but claimed he didn't know Ashley was inside and that the shots were fired to 'send a message' to her boyfriend Lee Harrison, who was not at home at the time.
Liverpool Crown Court heard all five men who were on trial were together in a flat in Huyton on the evening of 20 August last year before Witham and Joseph Peers left after 10pm.
The prosecution argued that Witham and his driver, Peers, were sent to the house on the order of Niall Barry, Sein Zeisz and Ian Fitzgibbon to kill Harrison and 'leave no witnesses.'
At around 11:40pm on 20 August 2022, Ashley's car - which was parked outside her house - had its tyres slashed, with the prosecution claiming it was to lure the occupants outside.
Witham then kicked the front door down and starting firing bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine gun.
Ashley fled towards the back door of the house, but was shot in the abdomen and died a short time later.
The court heard that the killing happened after a feud between Barry and Harrison was reignited at Glastonbury Festival, where Zeisz was assaulted.
A jury found Witham, Peers, Barry, and Zeisz guilty of murder.
Ian Fitzgibbon was found not guilty of all charges against him.
A sixth man, Kallum Radford, 26, has been found not guilty of assisting an offender by storing the vehicle used in the shooting.