Four jailed for at least 173 years for murder of Ashley Dale

Four men were jailed for a total of at least 173 years for the murder of council worker Ashley Dale.

Ashley, 28, was shot with a submachine gun and left to die in her garden in an attack intended to target her boyfriend Lee Harrison, a drug dealer who was in a feud with a rival gang.

He was not at the couple's home in the Old Swan area of Liverpool when gunman James Witham, 41, forced open the door in the early hours of 21 August, 2022.

He fired 10 bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine pistol into her dining room, one hitting her in the abdomen as she stood by the back door, before shooting five more into an upstairs bedroom as a warning.

Witham, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were found guilty of murdering Ms Dale, conspiring to murder Mr Harrison and possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition.

All were handed life sentences during a sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.

Zeisz and Barry were also sentenced for their part in a large-scale drugs supply ring.

Witham was handed a minimum term of 43 years, while Peers, Barry and Zeisz were told they must serve 41 years, 47 years and 42 years, respectively.

The judge, Mr Justice Goose, said the murder had "shocked both the local community and many in this country", adding that the use of a military sub-machine gun to kill a young woman in her own home was "beyond any understanding".

He said Ms Dale was in the "prime of her life" when Witham "wickedly fired 10 bullets" as she was "vulnerable and defenceless" in her home "where she should have been safe".

The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/r-...

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