Ashley Dale: Gunman lying to help co-accused, court told

The trial has heard Ashley Dale was not the intended target of the shooting

A gunman accused of murdering a woman in her home has lied to get his co-defendants "out of it", a court has been told.

Ashley Dale, 28, was shot in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of 21 August 2022.

Liverpool Crown Court has heard Ms Dale was not the intended target of the five men accused of murdering her.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC said James Witham, 41, had said he shot Ms Dale to be the "fall guy" for the others.

Mr Witham has previously admitted manslaughter, but, along with his co-accused, denies murder.

In his closing speech, Mr Greaney said Mr Witham and Joseph Peers, 29, were the "foot soldiers" in the plot to shoot Ms Dale's partner Lee Harrison as part of an ongoing feud between the men.

He said Niall Barry, 26, was the "malign presence" behind what happened at the home on Leinster Road, as he had a "major beef" with Mr Harrison.

He added that Sean Zeisz and Ian Fitzgibbon, both 28, were also "organisers" in the plot.

"James Witham knows his own position in this trial is hopeless and his aim in advancing his lying account is to try and get the others out of it," he said.

'Absurdity after absurdity'

He said Mr Witham's account of what happened, which included digging up a gun with a jug, would be "laughable if this case were not so serious".

The details Mr Witham gave "revealed a man prepared to say anything, no matter how ridiculous, to escape the consequences of what he had done", he said.

He said the "spectacle" of the defendant telling "absurdity after absurdity", "wallowing in self pity" and making speeches about the innocence of his co-defendants showed the jury "the truth" of the case.

"James Witham executed Ashley," he said.

"He pursued her as she fled.

"He shot and killed her quite deliberately as part of a plot to which he had signed up."

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

The jury also heard closing speeches on behalf of Mr Peers and Kallum Radford, 26, who is accused of assisting an offender by helping to store a car used in the killing.

Steven Swift said Mr Radford had been "thrown under the bus and used", and was a man "without gang allegiances, without involvement in fall-outs, not involved in threats, or in weapons".

Mr Barry, Mr Zeisz, Mr Fitgibbon, Mr Witham and Mr Peers deny the murder of Ms Dale, conspiracy to murder Mr Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon - a Skorpion sub-machine gun - and ammunition.

Mr Radford, 26, denies assisting an offender.

The trial continues.

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