20 November 2023 , 16:55
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A feud between friends at Glastonbury left Ashley Dale "looking over her shoulder" in the months before her death, a court heard.
Four of six men on trial have been found guilty of murdering the 28-year-old after she was shot with a Skorpion machine gun in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year. A feud with the environment health worker's partner Lee Harrison had been reignited at the music festival some weeks before, prosecutors said.
Jurors took nine hours and 22 minutes deliberating at Liverpool Crown Court. James Witham, Joseph Peers, Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz were also convicted of conspiracy to murder Mr Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon and ammunition. Ian Fitzgibbon, who had also been on trial, was cleared of all charges after denying murder, manslaughter, conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess firearms. He punched the air and patted his chest with his fist as he heard the verdict read out.
Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison (left) was once good friends with Niall Barry (right) who is accused of being involved (PA)
Niall Barry (PA)A sixth man, Kallum Radford, was found not guilty of assisting an offender. Gunman Witham, 41, had admitted the manslaughter of Miss Dale and told the court he did not know she was in the house when he forced his way in and opened fire. The prosecution alleged he and fellow “foot soldier” Joseph Peers, 29, were dispatched from a flat in Huyton, where “organisers” Barry, 26, Zeisz, 28, and Fitzgibbon, 28, were just after 10pm on August 20.
During the trial, voice recordings made by Miss Dale before her death were played to the court in which she described her “terrible anxiety” and told friends Barry, who had fallen out with Mr Harrison several years before, was “on some pure rampage”. Jurors were told that Miss Dale had been excited about a promotion at work when she was murdered. The prosecution used the voice notes from the victim's phone to help bring her killers to justice.
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Sean Zeisz (PA)
James Witham (PA)They described a growing feud between her boyfriend and Barry, who was accused of orchestrating the plot. The court heard that the dispute between Mr Harrison and Barry dated back to 2019 when drug dealer Barry had a stash stolen by the Hillsiders gang. The pair had previously been close but when Mr Harrison joined the Hillsiders, Barry was left angry. The feud was reignited at Glastonbury Festival in 2022, when Barry arrived with a knife threatening to "stab up" Mr Harrison. Between June and her death in August, Ashley described her growing anxiety over her boyfriend’s feud with Barry, telling her pals in one voice note that she was always” looking over her shoulder".
Speaking after the verdict Ms Dale's family said she “fell in love with the wrong boy” as they expressed their anger towards the “despicable” boyfriend her murderers were targeting. Ms Dale’s mother Julie Dale, 46, said she was “very, very angry” towards Mr Harrison, who had been in a relationship with her daughter for about five years before her death. She said: “Some days I feel like I’m more angry towards him than I am to the person who’s actually killed Ashley because without Lee Harrison this wouldn’t have happened.”
Joseph Peers (PA)She added: “The way he’s acted since this has happened has been absolutely despicable. We’ve had no remorse from him. We’ve had no support from him. We have no admittance that it’s anything to do with him. He’s given us any number of reasons of what he’s heard it’s to do with and none of them include him.
“He still carries on going about his life, leaving the country, going on holidays, lording it up, shall we say, like nothing’s happened and nothing’s changed for him and it’s absolutely disgusting, it really is.” During the trial, the court heard since his girlfriend’s death Mr Harrison had been “totally unco-operative” with police, and had been to Dubai on several occasions.
Giving evidence earlier this month, Fitzgibbon, said he was friends with Mr Harrison. Fitzgibbon told the jury while attending Glastonbury Festival in June 2022, co-accused Barry had shown him a knife and told him he would stab Mr Harrison, known as Saz.
The crime scene on Leinster Road, Old Swan, on August 21 last year (Liverpool Echo)He said Barry asked him if he had seen "Saz", before saying: "Tell him when you see him I'm going to stab him up." He added: "He just pulled out a knife, showed he had a knife, put it back in his pocket." Mr Fitzgibbon, who told the court he was a cannabis dealer, said he replied "OK" to Mr Barry after he made the threat.
He said: "I was just a bit shocked, I just wanted to get hold of Lee and tell him what's been said." He described Mr Barry as "drunk" and "off his head". The jury was told he had spoken to Mr Harrison the following day to "warn" him about Barry. Sentencing is set to take place at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday.