Ashley Dale killers jailed for life for murder

Four men have been jailed for life for murdering Ashley Dale who was shot by a sub-machine gun in her home in Liverpool.

Here is a recap of those sentences and what part the killers played in the murder.

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Gunman James Witham, 41, of Huyton, was jailed for life and given a minimum sentence of 43 years.

He fired the Skorpion gun at Ashley after bursting into her home and chasing her on 21 August 2022.

Joseph Peers, 29, of Roby, who was described as a "foot soldier", was jailed for life with a minimum term of 41 years.

He drove a Hyundai to the scene and earlier helped Witham to stab the tyres of Ashley's car.

Merseyside PoliceCopyright: Merseyside Police

Niall Barry, 26, of Tuebrook, was described as the "malign presence" in the murder of Ashley Dale and also given a life sentence with at least 47 years behind bars.

Barry was found to have helped organise and encourage the killing, which came after a feud with Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison.

Sean Zeisz, 28, of Huyton, was handed a life sentence - with a minimum of 42 years - also for his role in organising and encouraging the shooting of Ashley at her home in Old Swan, Liverpool.

Ashley Dale loved going to festivals, and had been going to Glastonbury since she was a teenager.

But it was at the music event last year that a clash between her boyfriend Lee Harrison and one of those jailed for her murder, Niall Barry, really ramped up.

The feud began with the theft of £40,000 of cocaine, and ended in her death.

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Ashley and Lee were at the festival in June 2022 along with Niall Barry, Sean Zeisz, Ian Fitzgibbon and James Witham.

During their trial, it emerged members of a group called the Hillsiders, who Lee was associated with, had allegedly stolen about a kilo-and-a-half of cocaine from Barry - and Lee had sided with them.

Merseyside PoliceCopyright: Merseyside Police

At the festival, Barry's friend Sean Zeisz was assaulted by a member of the Hillsiders, leading to Barry threatening to stab Lee at the event.

Barry said to be drunk and "off his head" on drugs, had shown another man a knife and told him he would stab Lee, the trial heard.

The incident at Glastonbury reignited the feud which led to Ashley's murder, the jury was told.

Ashley had worked at Knowsley Council since November 2017, and had recently been promoted into an Environmental Health Officer role which she never got to start.

The council says she was a "very popular" member of staff.

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"It has been hard for those who knew her to come to terms with their loss, and they will certainly always remember Ashley extremely fondly," a spokeswoman says.

"She had her whole life ahead of her, but that was snatched away in the most horrific of circumstances.

“Our thoughts remain with her family, friends and colleagues, all of whom have endured a terrible pain since Ashley’s senseless murder."

Four men have been convicted of murdering Ashley Dale, who was gunned down in her home in Liverpool.

Mr Justice Julian Goose sentenced them earlier, with his remarks broadcast on television.

You can watch that by clicking play below.

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In his statement to the court, Ashley's dad Steven Dunne, says he wants to talk about Ashley, of whom he "couldn't be prouder".

"She loved her food and when we'd go out for family meals, it was nearly always Ashley's choice, but we were in good hands; Ashley had good taste," he said.

He spoke of her favourite meal which was "steak, roast potatoes, broccoli, peas, and mushrooms; that was what she would most often ask me to cook, and we would sit, talk, and catch up for hours".

"I cherished every second that I spent with her," he said.

You can read the statement in full here.

The devastating impact of Ashley's death on her family was heard in court earlier.

You can read her mum and dad's victim impact statements in full here.

Ashley's mum Julie speaks of the effect on her two younger daughters. She talks of "ongoing therapy" and a school move.

Julie says she had to give up her job as a midwife, a career she'd "worked so hard for", which she described as "defeating the odds by going to university and getting a degree after being written off as a young mum".

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Quote Message: I hate that I won't see her get married, have children and deliver her babies, become Nanny "Julie" or grow old together like we always joked about. Often being mistaken for sisters as we were only 16 years apart." from Julie Dale

I hate that I won't see her get married, have children and deliver her babies, become Nanny "Julie" or grow old together like we always joked about. Often being mistaken for sisters as we were only 16 years apart."

Ashley sent regular voice notes to her friends on WhatsApp, the last one recorded just 30 minutes before she was shot dead.

The detective who led the investigation into her murder said Ashley was "narrating her own story and events that led up to her death" in what was thought to be an "unprecedented" body of evidence.

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Det Ch Insp Cath Cummings said Ashley's mobile phone had been "significant" in helping detectives piece together what had happened and why.

In her voice notes, Ashley, an environmental health officer, described the details of the feud between her boyfriend Lee Harrison and his killers.

It was not Ashley who was the target that night, but Mr Harrison. However she was the one killed by gunman James Witham, armed with a Skorpion machine pistol.

Det Ch Insp Cummings said: "There was barely a dry eye in the courtroom as her increased fear and anxiety was played out through recovered voice notes from her phone.

"It's Ashley that's actually brought these offenders to justice because overlaying that with the evidence that we've been able to gather she's told us the story herself."

Ashley was shot by Witham who fired a Skorpion submachine gun at her.

The same type of weapon was used to kill Elle Edwards who was murdered in a shooting on Christmas Eve in 2022.

Police have since been trying to understand how Skorpion machine guns are coming into the country.

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Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy believes fatal shootings in her area in 2022 followed the arrival of a consignment.

She said she believed the availability of Czech-designed Skorpions, which are capable of firing 800 rounds a minute, was linked to a rise in fatalities on Merseyside.

Ashley's mum Julie, 46, earlier faced her daughter's killers in court herself to read out her victim impact statement, calling them "monsters".

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From the witness stand she looked at the four men in the dock and said: "I hope you all understand that I will never ever forgive you, for the life sentence you have gave to me and my family."

"Although I can now rest knowing that you monsters are going to pay for what you have done to me and my family and that you too have ruined your own lives and your family's lives," she added.

"I hope my words haunt you all forever and you, James Witham, I hope when you go to sleep at night you too see my baby girl's face as I do every single night."

A statement from Ashley's dad Steven Dunne during sentencing described how his daughter had been talking to him about wanting to start a family shortly before her death.

"She knew her current relationship was not one that she wanted to bring a child into, but she just couldn’t bring herself to make that permanent break," he said.

"Ashley never got the chance to be a mum, and her family have been robbed of the chance of meeting Ashley’s children - my grandchildren."

If you're just joining us, four men have been jailed for life today for their part in the murder of 28-year-old Ashley Dale.

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• Niall Barry, 26, of Moscow Drive, Tuebrook, was given a life sentence with at least 47 years behind bars
• Gunman James Witham, 41, of Ashbury Road, Huyton, Merseyside, was also given a life sentence with a minimum of 43 years
• Sean Zeisz, 28, of Longreach Road, Huyton, was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 42 years
• Joseph Peers, 29, of Woodlands Road, Roby, Merseyside, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 41 years

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During the sentencing, Ashley's dad Steven Dunne revealed how his 16-year-old son had been shot dead eight years ago in a case of mistaken identity.

Lewis Dunne was shot in the back in Eldonian Village, Vauxhall, Liverpool, in November 2015, leading to his dad's heartbreaking admission that he felt history was repeating itself.

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Jake Culshaw and brothers John and Paul Martin were found guilty of Lewis's murder in 2016.

In an impact statement read to court earlier, Mr Dunne said his son was "an innocent victim caught in the middle of a gang feud".

Lewis was shot by a gang who thought he was one of their rivals, because he had similar-looking curly hair.

At his murder trial, the court was told he was "a quiet lad who kept himself to himself", and had been enjoying a "perfectly ordinary evening" sharing a Chinese takeaway and watching TV with his family before he went out to buy cigarettes and was shot.

Culshaw, 26, and Paul Martin, 26, were ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years while John Martin, 20, was given a minimum of 28 years.

During his sentencing of the four men Mr Justice Goose described how the murder - involving a military-grade gun - shocked "the community - in the city and country".

He described how Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison had refused to co-operate - "so involved in criminal gangs as he is" - and hadn't helped bring her killers to justice.

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The judge added: "The court has heard the most moving personal statements about the harm caused to them.

"It will last forever.

"Ashley was in the prime of her life and gunned down where she should have been safe."

Ashley's family and friends were left devastated after she was gunned down by James Witham and the whole community was rocked by the killing, Merseyside Police Det Ch Insp Cath Cummings says.

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"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," she said.

She noted “a group came together to seek revenge for longstanding drugs disputes" which were reignited by events in Glastonbury in the summer of 2022 and "turbo charged" by another man's death.

“The prosecution do not have to prove a motive, but in this case the motive was identified and went on to unlock the truth of this case," she said.

During her victim impact statement Ashley's mum Julie described how she had had to break the news of her death to Ashley's two younger sisters, who she said had slept in the bedroom where the shots were fired only a week earlier.

"The horrific thought came to my mind, that we could have been here dealing with multiple murders," she said.

"My whole family could have been killed that night. No thought given to who could have been in the house, one intention only: to kill."

Two of the men convicted of murdering Ashley Dale were named as potential suspects in the shooting of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, it can now be reported.

Nine-year-old Olivia was shot by Thomas Cashman, 35, as he chased drug dealer Joseph Nee into her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, in August last year.

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That was the day after Ashley was shot dead in her home - less than two miles away (3km) in Old Swan.

Cashman's legal team tried to bring in evidence about other people named as potential suspects during his trial at Manchester Crown Court in March.

It can now be reported Sean Zeisz and Niall Barry - who went on to be convicted of Ashley's murder - were among those named.

Ian Fitzgibbon, who stood trial for her murder and was found not guilty, was also mentioned.

The defence also wanted to elicit evidence about a feud involving the family of Mr Nee.

Zeisz and Barry were jointly charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm to Joseph Nee's brother Jamie, although both were acquitted at a trial earlier this year.

Ashley worked at Knowsley Council as an environmental health officer, and in July, her colleagues installed a bench and planted a tree for her in Court Hey Park, Huyton.

Family photographCopyright: Family photograph

Her mum, Julie Dale, said she felt "honoured" that her daughter had "made such an impact", adding that it was a lovely place to go reflect and remember her.

Family photographCopyright: Family photograph

Councillor Graham Morgan, leader of Knowsley Council, said that Ashley was a "much-loved and respected colleague whose contribution to the council and to Knowsley as a place was really valued during her life and has been greatly missed since her passing".

Ashley’s grandma earlier told the court in her victim impact statement how her granddaughter's birth was "one of the happiest moments" of her life.

"I still have a picture in my mind of the first time I held her in my arms nearly 30 years ago. She was so tiny and beautiful I shed tears of happiness that first time," Susan Steinhilber - known to Ashley as Gramma Sue - said.

"My visions of her as a very pretty, happy, popular, clever and funny child will never leave me," she said, adding she "could not have been prouder" when Ashley graduated from Liverpool John Moores University in Environmental Health.

Det Ch Insp Cath Cummings - who led the investigation at Merseyside Police - says the night Ashley was murdered she "was in the safest place she thought she would be - her home".

She says despite the inquiry securing some answers for Ashley's family, it will "never take their pain away - their lives have been shattered beyond belief".

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She said the sentencings should "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."