Ashley Dale murder investigation: Part three
Four men were sentenced to a total of 173 years in prison for the murder of Ashley Dale at her home in Old Swan in August 2022. James Witham, Sean Zeisz, Niall Barry and Joseph Peers were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison.
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00:00 Following a seven week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, four men were sentenced to a total of 173 years in prison for the murder of Ashley Dale.
00:13 A jury found James Witham, Sean Zeiss, Niall Barry and Joseph Peers guilty of the murder of 28 year old Ashley who was fatally shot in her home on Leinster Road in August of 2022.
00:29 No one would ever account for someone coming and kicking your door down, half 12 and firing 15 bullets into your property.
00:36 It's a one in a billion type of thing, it doesn't happen, but it has happened.
00:43 James Witham had previously admitted being the gunman who fired the fatal shot.
00:49 I'm angry at all of them because without every single one of them, they've all had a part to play in it. He's destroyed our lives, he really has.
01:00 We've not seen one ounce of remorse from him whatsoever during this trial. He's sat there and I've not seen one tear, one anything from any of them, let alone James Witham.
01:12 He's not only took Ashley's life, he's took my life, he's took our lives, he's took my daughter's lives, he's essentially took his own life and his family's life because nothing's going to be the same again.
01:26 The four men were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, namely a Scorpion submachine gun and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
01:40 Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison chose not to cooperate with police during the investigation into her murder.
01:47 Ashley loved him, you know, there's no, you know, there's no, we know that, we know they were together for five years.
01:54 I just cannot never, ever, ever get my head around how someone who supposedly loved her back could treat her and us in that way.
02:05 He's not even admitted that it was anything to do with him, he's never came to me and even, you know, give me a reason why he felt like he couldn't speak to the police, you know.
02:17 When passing sentencing, Justice Goose said, "I have been struck by the dignity you have shown as a family and the way you expressed yourselves in the victim personal statements was truly remarkable."
02:31 What the verdicts have undoubtedly shown is that the people of Merseyside will not tolerate gun crime and particularly when the victim of this despicable attack was a young 28 year old woman with her whole life ahead of her.
02:47 I'm sure the verdicts will go some way to comforting Ashley's family but ultimately we must recognise now that as the prosecution has come to a close, this is only the start for Ashley's family.