Ashley Dale: Woman shot dead after row at Glastonbury, jury told

Ashley Dale worked as an environmental health officer for Knowsley Council

An innocent woman was shot dead in her home after a feud between two groups reignited at Glastonbury, a court has heard.

Ashley Dale, 28, died after she was shot in the Old Swan area of Liverpool on 21 August 2022.

The prosecution told Liverpool Crown Court how Ms Dale's partner had been the intended target.

Five men deny murder, conspiracy to murder and firearms offences while a sixth man denies assisting an offender.

Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told the jury how on the night of 20 August Ms Dale was at home on Leinster Road when her car tyres were slashed, causing the alarm to sound.

The environmental health officer did not go outside as she believed the alarm had been set off by rain.

However, in the early hours of the following day, the court heard James Whitham kicked down Ms Dale's door and shot her.

He has admitted being the gunman and pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder, claiming he shot her by accident.

Ms Dale was found in the back garden of her home on Leinster Road

Mr Greaney told the jury that Lee Harrison, who was Ms Dale's boyfriend but was not in the house at the time, was the intended target of the shooting.

He told the court the background to the shooting was a dispute between a group associated with Mr Harrison and another group.

Mr Harrison had a long-standing feud with a man called Niall Barry, which was reignited at Glastonbury music festival in June that year, the court heard.

Mr Greaney said Ms Dale had attended the festival with Mr Harrison.

The trial, which is expected to last eight weeks, is being held at Liverpool Crown Court

During the festival, a friend of Mr Harrison assaulted a man named Sean Zeisz, the court heard.

Tensions between the two groups rose even further when a man called Rikki Warnick, who was known to both groups, took his own life in July 2022, the jury was told.

Mr Greaney told the jury Mr Barry, Mr Zeisz and a third man named Ian Fitzgibbon were the organisers of the murder.

He described Mr Witham, Kallum Radford and Joseph Peers, who is alleged to have been the driver of the getaway car, as the "foot soldiers".

Mr Greaney said: "There can be no doubt that Ashley's death was murder.

"She was shot deliberately and mercilessly by a man who entered her home intending to kill."

Mr Greaney also played voice notes recovered from Ms Dale's mobile phone to the court.

He said they "provided a running record of Ashley's concerns, and those of her friends who were also caught up in the relevant events to some extent".

He told the jury that listening to the notes would be upsetting "because we will be listening to the voice of Ashley herself, describing in her own way a dispute which the prosecution suggests led to her death".

"It is distressing to listen to, but your obligation as jurors is to assess it dispassionately," he added.

Mr Whitham, 41, of Huyton, Mr Barry, 26, of Tuebrook, Mr Zeisz, 28, of Huyton, Mr Fitgibbon, 28, of St Helens, and Mr Peers, 29, of Roby, all deny murder, conspiracy to murder and firearms offences.

Mr Radford, 25, of no fixed address, denies assisting an offender.

The trial is expected to last eight weeks.

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