Ashley Dale: Jury retires in woman's shooting murder trial

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

The jury in the trial of five men accused of murdering Ashley Dale in Liverpool have retired to consider their verdicts.

Ashley Dale, 28, was shot by a gunman firing a Skorpion sub-machine gun in the early hours of 21 August 2022.

The jury was sent out shortly before 11:00 GMT at Liverpool Crown Court after a trial lasting more than six weeks.

James Witham, 41, admits manslaughter but denies murder.

He has claimed he fired the shots as a "warning" to Miss Dale's partner Lee Harrison and did not know anyone was in the house at the time.

The prosecution say Mr Witham was driven to the scene by "foot soldier" Joseph Peers, 29.

Mr Peers told the jury he was at home with his parents watching boxing at the time.

Niall Barry, 26, Sean Zeisz, 28, and Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, are accused of organising and encouraging the murder.

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

The killing is said to have happened after a feud between Mr Barry and Mr Harrison was re-ignited when Mr Zeisz was assaulted at Glastonbury music festival in June 2022.

The court has heard all five men were together in a flat in Pilch Lane in Huyton, Merseyside, on the evening of 20 August before Mr Witham and Mr Peers left shortly after 22:00.

During the trial, voice recordings made by Miss Dale before her death have been played in which she described her "terrible anxiety" and told friends Mr Barry, who had fallen out with Mr Harrison several years before, was "on some pure rampage".

Mr Witham, of Huyton; Mr Fitzgibbon, of St Helens; Mr Zeisz, of Huyton; Mr Barry, of Tuebrook and Mr Peers, of Roby - all Merseyside - deny Miss Dale's murder.

All five also deny conspiracy to murder Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition.

A sixth defendant, Kallum Radford, 26, denies assisting an offender by helping to store the Hyundai used in the killing.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]