An innocent woman was shot dead at her home after a feud between two groups reignited at Glastonbury festival last year, a court in Liverpool has heard this week.
Ashley Dale, 28, died after she was shot at her home in Liverpool on August 21 2022.
At Liverpool Crown Court this week, the prosecution said Dale’s partner, Lee Harrison, had been the intended target. He was not in the house at the time. Five men deny murder, conspiracy to murder and firearms offences; a sixth man has denied assisting an offender.
As reported on BBC news, prosecution Paul Greaney KC told the jury that on the night of August 20, Dale was at home when her tyres were slashed, causing her car alarm to sound. Later, the prosecution alleged one of the men, James Whitman, returned to the property, kicked down Dale’s door and shot her.
He has since pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting that he was the gunman but claiming he shot her by accident.
During proceedings, Greaney explained that the background to the shooting involved a dispute between two groups, one of which was associated with Dale’s boyfriend, Harrison.
Harrison had a long-standing feud with a man called Niall Barry according to the prosecution, something that was reignited at Glastonbury music festival in June 2022.The prosecution said Dale had attended the festival with Harrison and that a friend of Harrison assaulted a man called Sean Zeisz.
Greaney told the jury Zeisz was one of the organisers of the murder, along with Barry and another man called Ian Fitzgibbon. He termed Whitham and a fifth suspect, Joseph Peers as “foot soldiers” while Kallum Radford was the alleged getaway driver.
Greaney added: “There can be no doubt that Ashley’s death was murder. She was shot deliberately and mercilessly by a man who entered her home intending to kill.”
The trial is expected to last for the next eight weeks.
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