Jess Battison
Four men have been found guilty of murdering Ashley Dale, 28, who was shot dead in Merseyside after a Glastonbury music festival argument.
James Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were found guilty of the murder at Liverpool Crown Court today (20 November).
Dale was shot with a machine gun in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 21 August 2022.
Witham, Peers, Barry and Zeisz were also convicted of conspiracy to murder her partner, Lee Harrison, and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition.
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Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, who was originally accused of 'directing the hit' alongside those above, was found not guilty of the three charges.
All five men had denied the charges against them.
Witham admitted to manslaughter but denied the murder.
The tragic killing is said to have happened after a feud re-ignited when Ziesz was assaulted at Glastonbury during June.
Harrison's feud with Barry had started three years before Dale's murder.
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This reportedly began when her partner sided with the Hillside organised crime group after they allegedly stole drugs from Barry.
Witham claimed he fired the shots as a 'warning' to Harrison and didn't know anyone was in the house at the time.
The prosecution say he was driven to the scene by 'foot soldier' Peers, who told the jury he was home watching boxing with his parents at the time.
Witham forced open the door of the environmental health officer's home, firing 10 bullets into her dining room and five into the wall of an upstairs bedroom.
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Dale was hit by a bullet in the abdomen as she stood by the back door.
Voice recordings from the 28-year-old, sent to her friends before her death, were played during the trial.
Dale said she had 'terrible anxiety' and that Barry was 'on some pure rampage'.
A sixth defendant, Kallum Radford, 26, was cleared of assisting an offender by helping to store the Hyundai used in the killing.
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Dale's mum, Julie, said (as per PA): "In my eyes, there’ll never be justice for me.
“The only justice would have been that this wouldn’t have happened. At least I can rest assured now knowing that these people are going to pay for what they’ve done.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Cath Cummings said: “The actions of James Witham on that day had a devastating and widespread impact.
“Ashley, an innocent women, lost her life in the most brutal way at the hands of Witham. That was compounded by the fact that she was alone in her own home, where she should have felt and been safe, when she was fatally shot."
The four men are to be sentenced at 11am on Wednesday 22 November.