12 October 2023 , 14:10
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Ashley Dale ran from the lounge and attempted to flee her home out the back door when she was shot dead in her kitchen, a court heard.
Five men are facing trial accused of murdering Miss Dale, who was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her house in Old Swan, Liverpool. A court was previously told the 28-year-old is not believed to have been the intended target, but after she was shot, five bullets were fired into a wall as a "firm message" to her boyfriend.
James Witham, 41, has pleaded guilty to Ashley's manslaughter but denies murder. Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, Sean Zeisz, 27, Niall Barry, 26 and Joseph Peers, 29, are also in the dock and accused of Ms Dale's murder.
Julie Dale, Ashley's mother, arrives at court (Liverpool Echo)
Today's hearing has been told of Ashley's final moments (Liverpool Echo)Today, Paul Greaney, prosecuting, spoke to forensic firearms scientist Andre De Villiers Horne about Ashley’s final moments, the Liverpool Echo reports. Mr Dr Villiers Horne said: “We know the gunman came through the front door because it had been bashed in and was lying in the hallway. The only escape route for Ashley, the only other door she could have exited the house, was the rear door.
“My explanation is she was moving towards the rear door. That was her only route of escape. If someone has bashed down your door and is firing you are not going to move towards them. I cannot exclude that possibility but I’m applying some logic.
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“It is my view that Ashley’s movement was from wherever she was, most likely the living room where the television was on, she moved towards her only escape, which was the rear door, and the shooter had been following the same route. He had been firing the shots in the direction Ashley was attempting to escape.”
Mr Greaney asked: “The gunman is following the route she’s taking and discharging that machine pistol as he does so?” Mr De Villiers replied: “In my view that is the most likely explanation, yes.”
Mr Dr Villiers Horne added: “During our reconstruction I used a colleague and aligned the locations of entry and exit wounds on Ashley’s body with that trajectory. She would have been facing the kitchen door. She was on her way from inside the kitchen towards the kitchen door when that shot was fired. She had gone out that door and was found in the back garden.”
Mr Greaney opened the case for the prosecution last week by telling a jury Witham and Peers were "dispatched" with a Skorpion sub-machine gun to kill Ashley's boyfriend, Lee Harrison, who was not at home on August 20 last year. The court heard Harrison had become the target after previous grievances rose to the surface after the group had attended Glastonbury.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how shortly before midnight, two men approached Ashley's car and slashed its tyres, causing the alarm to sound. Mr Greaney said: "The men who had done that hoped that anyone within 40 Leinster Road would be lured outside, where they could be attacked and killed.”
The trial continues.