. Four individuals found responsible for the homicide of a council employee were fatally shot inside her residence.

Four individuals have been convicted of killing a city employee who was fatally shot in her residence after a dispute involving her partner.

On Monday, James Witham (41), Joseph Peers (29), Niall Barry (26), and Sean Zeisz (28) were found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court for the murder of Ashley Dale (28) after a seven-week trial.

The environmental health officer, Ms. Dale, was fatally shot by gunman Witham on August 21st of last year in Old Swan, Liverpool. The perpetrator forcibly opened the door to her home and fired 15 rounds from a Skorpion sub-machine gun. Ms. Dale was found in her back garden after being struck in the abdomen while standing by her back door.

Witham admitted her manslaughter but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court also found him guilty of her murder, along with fellow “foot soldier” Peers, who the prosecution alleged drove a Hyundai to the scene and earlier helped Witham to stab tyres on Ms Dale’s car in an attempt to lure out the occupants of the house.

Barry and Zeisz were both found guilty of murder based on evidence presented to the jury that they planned and encouraged the crime. The incident occurred following a dispute between Ms. Dale’s partner Lee Harrison and Barry, which was reportedly reignited when Zeisz was attacked at the Glastonbury festival in the previous year.

28-year-old Ian Fitzgibbon, who was also charged with orchestrating or inciting the murder, was acquitted of the crime.

Kallum Radford, age 26, was acquitted of aiding a perpetrator by providing assistance in storing the vehicle used in the homicide.

Several relatives of the accused became emotional and shed tears as the verdicts were announced. Barry’s mother mouthed “I love you” to him while looking towards the dock. Julie, the mother of Ms Dale, also cried upon hearing the first guilty verdict around 2:30pm.

During the trial, it was presented that on the night of August 20, all five individuals were present in a flat located on Pilch Lane in Huyton, Merseyside. This location was referred to by the prosecution as the main base for planning the murder. Two of the men, Witham and Peers, departed around 10pm to execute the shooting.

Ms. Dale was struck when Witham discharged a total of 10 rounds in her downstairs dining room and kitchen, following the initial firing of five bullets into the wall of an upstairs spare bedroom.

Barry denied the idea that Witham was his employee and refuted claims of him being the head of a criminal organization. However, he admitted in court to participating in drug dealings worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Barry confessed to making a threat towards Ms Dale’s boyfriend before her passing, stating in court that he said to Mr Harrison: “I will go to the neighborhood and physically harm you.”

Ms Dale had sent voice recordings to her friends in the two months leading up to her murder. In those recordings, she spoke about her severe anxiety and mentioned that Barry, who had a previous conflict with Mr Harrison over the theft of £40,000 worth of cocaine, was causing chaos. The court listened to these recordings as evidence.

The phone, recovered an arm’s length from where Ms Dale was found in her back garden, had been used in her final moments to try to call Mr Harrison, who was out with friends while she spent the night at home, watching television with her dachshund Darla.

Barry’s conflict with Mr. Harrison, who refused to assist the police in the investigation of his girlfriend’s death, began approximately three years prior to the shooting. This occurred when Mr. Harrison aligned himself with the Hillside organized crime group, who Barry believed had stolen drugs from him.

Fitzgibbon, who flew to Dubai after the shooting and was extradited from Spain in August, told the jury he had witnessed Barry threatening to stab Mr Harrison during Glastonbury in 2022, when the feud was said to have reignited.

After Ms Dale’s death, Witham and Peers checked into a hotel in St Helens and later went to Scotland. Barry was apprehended at a golf resort in Formby where he had intended to escape the country.

Julie Dale expressed her belief that she will never receive the justice she deserves. She stated that the only true justice would have been for the event to not have occurred in the first place. Despite this, she finds some comfort in knowing that those responsible will be held accountable for their actions.

The Chief Constable, Serena Kennedy, expressed her hope that the guilty verdicts would provide “a bit of solace” to Ms Dale’s loved ones.

She expressed her hope that the individuals beginning their prison sentence will contemplate the destructive impact they have caused on a family in Merseyside.

Witham from Huyton, Peers from Roby, Barry from Tuebrook, and Zeisz from Huyton were all found guilty of plotting to kill Mr. Harrison and conspiring to have a banned weapon – the Skorpion sub-machine gun – and ammunition.

Fitzgibbon, a resident of St Helens, was found not guilty of the accusations.

All six individuals had denied the allegations against them.

The sentencing hearing will occur at 11am on Wednesday.

Source: independent.co.uk