Ashley Dale: Gunman used me, alleged getaway driver tells court

The trial has heard Ashley Dale was not the intended target of a gunman who was looking for her partner

A man accused of being the getaway driver for the gunman who shot a council worker has told a court he was "used" by the killer.

Ashley Dale, 28, was shot in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 21 August 2022 by James Witham, who admits manslaughter.

Liverpool Crown Court was told Joseph Peers, 29, stayed in a hotel with Mr Witham after the shooting and later drove with him to Scotland.

He said he knew "how odd it looked", but he had been "blatantly lied to".

Giving evidence, Mr Peers denied he had dropped Mr Witham off to pick up a weapon after 22:10 BST on 20 August.

He also denied driving to the area close to Ms Dale's Leinster Road home to carry out a "recce".

'Horrible'

Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, suggested Mr Peers had later helped Mr Witham to slash tyres on Ms Dale's car.

Mr Peers said he would not lower his standards "to actually slashing someone's tyres", adding: "It's the lowest of the low."

"Why would I slash someone's tyres I don't even know?" he said.

"These people had no trouble with me.

"I know them, there's no way... I'd go and slash tyres and then have them lured out their house and then try and kill them.

"I know them, I know both of them."

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

The prosecution has alleged Ms Dale was killed following a feud between the defendants and her partner Lee Harrison.

Mr Greaney said Mr Peers's job was to drive the car "and otherwise support James Witham" in the "plot" to attack the house and "kill Lee Harrison, leaving behind no witnesses".

"That was not my job," Mr Peers replied.

Replying to a question as to whether he heard Ms Dale shout after the shots were fired, he said he was "not there at that material time and I definitely wouldn't have assisted someone to have been doing something like that".

"It's horrible, it's disgusting, it should never have happened," he added.

He told the court he was at home with his parents, on Woodlands Road in Roby, watching boxing when the shooting happened.

Asked about his stay in a St Helens hotel with Mr Witham after the shooting, he said he could "see how odd it looked".

"Anyone in their right mind would say yeah, you were in it together," he said.

"He's used me.

"After this, I would never, ever, ever have assisted him in booking hotels, moving the car.

"I was blatantly lied to and that's the truth."

Mr Peers, Mr Witham and co-defendants Niall Barry, 26, Sean Zeisz, 28, and Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, deny the murder of Ms Dale, conspiracy to murder her partner Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition.

Kallum Radford, 26, denies assisting an offender.

The trial continues.

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