Ashley Dale: Four men jailed for more than 170 years after council worker ‘executed’ in her own home

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Four men have been jailed for more than 170 years between them after a council worker was “executed” in her own home.

Environmental health worker Ashley Dale was killed when gunman James Witham, 41, forced his way into her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year, and opened fire with a Skorpion submachine gun.

At Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, Witham, Niall Barry, 26, Joseph Peers, 29, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were all given life sentences with minimum terms of between 41 and 47 years for Ms Dale’s murder, as the court heard that what the group did to the 28-year-old amounted to “an execution”.

Witham, of Huyton, was jailed for a minimum of 43 years, while Barry, of Tuebrook, who was described by the prosecution as the “malign presence” behind Ms Dale’s killing, was sentenced to a minimum term of 47 years. Peers, of Roby, said to be a “foot soldier” who drove Witham to the scene, was sentenced to at least 41 years, and Zeisz, of Huyton, who was accused of organising and encouraging the attack with Barry, was told to serve a minimum of 42 years.

The four men were found guilty following a seven-week trial of the murder of Ms Dale, conspiracy to murder her boyfriend Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a a prohibited weapon – a Skorpion sub-machine gun – and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Ms Dale’s death was one of three fatal shootings within the space of a week in Liverpool in August last year. Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel died when Thomas Cashman, 35, chased a convicted drug dealer into her home in Dovecot the day after Ms Dale’s murder, and Sam Rimmer, 22, was killed in Dingle on 16 August.

It can now be reported that two of the men convicted of murdering Ms Dale, Zeisz and Barry, were named as potential suspects in the shooting of Olivia, as well as Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, who stood trial for Ms Dale’s murder but was found not guilty.

Ms Dale’s killing came in the wake of a feud between Barry and Mr Harrison, which started years before over the theft of drugs and was “re-ignited” at the Glastonbury festival in June 2022, heard the jury.

During the festival, Barry was heard threatening to stab Mr Harrison and Zeisz was assaulted by a group said to include Jordan Thompson – a friend of Mr Harrison’s and member of the Hillside organised crime group with which he was associated.

Voicenotes and messages sent to friends by Ms Dale in the two months before her death were played during the trial describing the fall-out, which intensified when mutual friend Rikki Warnick took his own life in July last year.

During the four men’s sentencing, the court heard Ms Dale was in her living room wearing her pyjamas and watching TV when a man wearing a balaclava smashed through her front door holding a machine gun. When Ms Dale tried to flee, gunman Witham “pursued her, ignoring her screams”, heard the court. “What Witham did can properly be described as an execution.”

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Goose concluded that the motive of the killing was a “deep-seated drugs feud between Barry and Harrison”. The murder was planned by the four men, he said, adding that Witham “wickedly” fired the fatal shot at Ms Dale “as she was vulnerable and defenceless”, before leaving her to die while she screamed. He described Ms Dale’s murder while “in the prime of her life” as “brutal” and “beyond understanding”.

Witham had admitted manslaughter, claiming he was acting alone and believed the house was empty when he went to Leinster Road in the early hours and fired 10 shots downstairs, one which fatally struck Ms Dale, and five in an upstairs bedroom.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged Witham was the “fall guy” and was lying to get his co-defendants “out of it”.

Mr Harrison, who did not co-operate with police following his girlfriend’s death, was out on the night of the murder and has since spent time in Dubai, the court heard.

Following the sentencing, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Cath Cummings said that “a group came together to seek revenge for longstanding drugs disputes”, which resulted in the “brutal and senseless” murder of Ms Dale “in the safest place she thought she would be, her home”.

She said: “As James Witham stormed into Ashley’s home that night, wearing a balaclava, firing from a Scorpion sub-machine gun, he took away Ashley, an ambitious, bubbly, charismatic, young woman. The community rocked, her family and friends left devastated.

“While [the family] will never get over losing their Ashley following today’s result I and the rest of the Team hope they will find some comfort in the knowledge that those responsible will spend the rest of their life behind bars.”

She added: “Let today be a clear message that Merseyside Police and communities of Merseyside will not tolerate the actions of those who are intent on destroying lives. Together we will be relentless in identifying those who carry or use firearms ensuring those individuals or groups are removed from our streets.”