Ashley Dale’s killers are still striking fear into the hearts of those who walk Liverpool streets despite being handed a 173-year sentence for the machine gun murder.
The horrific echoes of the council officer’s tragic end echo through the city – but former members of the gang community say their jail time will only give them ‘kudos’. And they warn that things will only get worse.
The 28-year-old was shot on 21 August, 2022 at her home in Old Swan in Liverpool by James Witham – just one day before Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, was also killed at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool by Thomas Cashman.
Gang member Witham kicked down her front door and, armed with a Skorpion sub-machine gun, rampaged through her home searching for her boyfriend, Lee Harrison.
A neighbour alerted police who found Ms Dale, a rising star at Knowsley Council, dying in the backyard of her home on Leinster Road, Old Swan.
A murder trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard she was an innocent victim of a murderous fall-out between rival drug factions.
This photo of Ms Dale was released on the first anniversary of her murder
James Witham and Niall Barry are among four men who were found guilty of murdering council worker Ashley Dale
Sean Zeisz and Joseph Peers were also found guilty of murdering Ms Dale and conspiracy to murder her partner, Lee Harrison
Ms Dale can be seen in a family photo alongside her father, Steve
Just days after Ms Ms Dale’s death Olivia Pratt Korbel, nine, was shot dead with a handgun by Thomas Cashman in her Liverpool home
Some of those involved, such as Sean Zeisz, were associates of notorious gunman Cashman.
Ms Dale was all too aware of the deadly game her partner, Lee Harrison, had embraced. Voice notes found on her phone recorded her growing dread at the horror consuming her life.
Harrison, linked to the volatile Hillsiders gang, had fallen out with former pal Nail Barry after a stash of drugs was stolen.
This feud led toward violence and threats at the Glastonbury festival in the summer of 2022. The enmity between the two men was the key driver that led toward the deadly raid on Ms Dale’s home in August 2022.
Barry will now spend 47 years in the prison system, and Zeisz will serve a minimum term of 42 years.
Gunman Witham will serve out 43 years and driver Joseph Peers will serve out a 41 year term.
At the time many felt the draconian jail terms handed down would a send a ripple of fear through the ranks of the city’s gangs.
But now a former villain has said the sentences will have little or no impact.
Nightclub enforcer turned author Bernie O’Mahoney charted the so called Essex Boys murders of the 1990s and the demise of Salford ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey.
The former doorman, who has many associates in the prison system, claims the brutal sentences might have only boosted the reputations of those involved.
He said: ‘The idea that these types of people will think twice about serious crime because of a prison sentence is ridiculous.
Nightclub enforcer turned author Bernie O’Mahoney charted the so called Essex Boys murders of the 1990s and the demise of Salford ‘Mr Big’ Paul Massey
This photo of Ms Dale with her dachshund Darla was taken less than an hour before her death
Witham being arrested for Ms Dale’s murder. He gave a fake name to officers
Barry – one of the organisers of the shooting – in the back of a police car wearing cuffs
Peers and Witham buy beer in the Adisco store on Page Moss Lane, Huyton, the evening before Ms Dale was killed
Peers after being arrested by Merseyside Police by the side of a motorway
‘The gang members responsible for Ashley’s death will now have respect and kudos within the prison system because of their crimes and the length of the sentences handed down. Younger criminals will hand over ciggies and food to them.
‘They are seen as role models in the jails. Young inmates look up to them.
‘The only thing in the world these people fear is violence and death, not prison.
‘Jail is part of their life and I think a lot of them are happy there. And with mobile phones they can continue to run their drug businesses on the outside. So what has changed?’
And O’Mahoney says that Liverpool’s gang problem will only get worse – until Britain introduces capital punishment for the worst offenders.
He continued: ‘The suggestion that drug crews will think twice now because of big jail is just silly. Let’s remember we are talking about gangs sending people through front doors armed with machine guns.
‘But if they were facing the death penalty, that would be different. Capital sentences would be something they would think twice about, but no government will allow that to happen. And the government know that a referendum on the subject of capital punishment would deliver one result.
‘The judiciary and police might like to think big jail is the answer, but it’s just not true. This type of criminality on Merseyside is a major problem for the city.
Ms Dale – seen in family photos with her dachshund Darla – was gunned down in her home
Pictured left to right on a night out: Sean Zeisz and Niall Barry – who helped carry out the shooting – and Ms Dale’s girlfriend Lee Harrison
Ms Dale was shot in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool (pictured)
The killers had attempted to lure Ms Dale outside by slashing the tyres on her car
A bullet casing was found under her bed that was used to trace Witham
The gunman knocked down her front door before bursting inside and opening fire
‘Women and young girls being shot dead in their own homes or in pub car parks is totally shocking. It will get worse, not better.’
A Liverpool man, who has experience of gang related disputes in the city, agreed with Mr O’Mahoney’s central point.
He said: ‘The courts and police can move the gangsters location, but that is it. So rather than say sat in a flat in Huyton they are sat in a pad at Full Sutton. But they all have phones on the inside, so they are still gangsters.
‘They are all still grafting (selling drugs) and still have kids on the street. They can have people killed with a few calls. So the prison sentences handed down mean little really.
‘And yes some of the kids like the big sentences because of the kudos. It’s like I am doing 40 years so kids get out the way. I am proper – not in for some weed or beating up my girl like most of them.’
He said that the wall of silence that surrounded Liverpool’s crime bosses existed for a reason.
He said: ‘Just try and get one person in Liverpool to speak on the record about Barry and his mates. Or try and get one person to speak about the Huyton Firm (a notorious drug gang). Not even the police want to speak about them, because they all want to feel safe at night.
‘None would speak about them when they were out, and nobody will speak with them all locked up. And it’s because they all still have clout on the street. It’s called fear and its a powerful emotion.’
A Liverpool business owner compared to the city’s gangland scene to paramilitary politics in Northern Ireland.
He said: ‘In parts of the city such as Huyton, Breck Road and Dingle, children grow up groomed in criminality.
A family photo of Ms Dale with her dachshund Darla
Ms Dale’s boyfriend Harrison, linked to the volatile Hillsiders gang, had fallen out with former pal Nail Barry after a stash of drugs was stolen
Ms Dale (right) with her mother at Fusion festival
Ms Dale pictured with her mother on the day of her graduation
‘They have respect for crime bosses and revulsion toward victims, grasses and police.
‘A large section of the city’s criminal community is now based in Dubai. You can imagine young people on their first trip to Dubai, where its all Lamborghinis and nightclubs. That is what they want and they will do anything to get it.
‘It’s the reward system that the police and courts need to take on. But at the moment Liverpool is a bit like parts of Northern Ireland. Sections of society are indoctrinated in a voodoo world where gangsters are wrapped in myth and folklore.
Ok we don’t have murals of these people on the walls, but they might as well be there. These people like Warren and others are seen as heroes who have taken on the system.
‘And we have well known members of the city’s business and sporting worlds who are trapped in this cycle of hanging around with gangsters. We have all see the photos. Something has gone wrong somewhere.’
The Barry gang seemed unmoved by the court hearing. One occasion they were heard singing Human League’s Don’t You Want Me Baby before being brought into court.
One of the defendants was so bored by the trial that he read a book of puzzles during part of the hearing.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Goose said: ‘Witham and Peers waited for their moment for this planned killing – what followed was a murder that shocked the local community and many in this country.
Ms Dale (right) with her mother, Julie, who later slammed both her murderers and her daughter’s boyfriend, Lee Harrison
In October Wirral mum Jacqueline Rutter, 53, was shot dead in her own home
On Christmas Eve Elle Edwards, a 26-year-old beautician, died when Connor Chapman opened fire with a Skorpion outside a Wirral pub
Elle was shot in the head by gang member Connor Chapman
‘The use of a military grade submachine gun to kill a woman in her own home at night is beyond any understanding.
‘Ashley Dale was in the prime of her life and was gunned down in her own home, where she should have been safe.
‘This murder was planned by the four of you – the motive concerned a deep seated drugs feud between you and Lee Harrison.’
In 2015 Ms Dale’s own brother Lewis was shot dead as he walked down a canal towpath in Vauxhall, north Liverpool. The 16-year-old was shot in the back in a case of mistaken identity.
After the murder in November 2015 Lewis’s dad Steve launched a foundation to help fight gang and gun culture on Merseyside.
Ms Dale’s death in August 2022 came days after Sam Rimmer, 22, was gunned down with a Skorpion gun in Dingle, south Liverpool.
The killers arrived and left on electric bikes.
Just days after Ms Dale’s death Olivia Pratt Korbel, nine, was shot dead with a handgun by Thomas Cashman in her Liverpool home.
In October Wirral mum Jacqueline Rutter, 53, was shot dead in her own home.
On Christmas Eve Elle Edwards, a 26-year-old beautician, died when Connor Chapman opened fire with a Skorpion outside a Wirral pub. Elle was shot in the head by gang member Connor Chapman.