Ashley Dale: Man denies murder of woman shot dead in home
- Published
Ms Dale worked as an environmental health officer for Knowsley Council
A man has denied the murder of a woman shot dead at her home.
Ashley Dale, 28, was found with a gunshot wound in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 21 August 2022.
Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder at Liverpool Crown Court.
Mr Fitzgibbon, from St Helens, is one of five men from Merseyside about to go on trial accused of the Knowsley environmental health officer's murder.
James Witham, 41, of Ashbury Road, Huyton, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denies murder.
Sean Zeisz, 27, of Huyton, Niall Barry, 26, of Tuebrook, and Joseph Peers, 29, of Roby, have all denied murder.
All five also deny conspiracy to murder Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited Skorpion sub-machine gun and ammunition.
A sixth man, Kallum Radford, 25, of no fixed address, denies assisting an offender.
Trial judge Mr Justice Goose told the court their trial was expected to last about six weeks.
The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.
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