The mother of a 28-year-old woman shot with a machine gun in her home faced her daughter’s killers in court and called them ‘monsters’ as they were jailed for life for the murder.
Environmental health worker Ashley Dale was killed when gunman James Witham, 41, forced his way into her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year and opened fire with a Skorpion submachine gun.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, he and three other men convicted of the murder – Niall Barry, 26, Sean Zeisz, 28 and Joseph Peers, 29, were all told they would serve minimum terms of more than 40 years.
Reading a statement from the witness box, Ms Dale’s mother Julie, 46, looked at the four men in the dock and said: ‘I hope you all understand that I will never ever forgive you, for the life sentence you have gave to me and my family.
‘People speak about justice for Ashley but in my eyes there will never be justice, the only justice is that this would never have happened.
‘Although I can now rest knowing that you monsters are going to pay for what you have done to me and my family and that you too have ruined your own lives and your family’s lives.
‘I hope my words haunt you all forever and you, James Witham, I hope when you go to sleep at night you too see my baby girl’s face as I do every single night.’
Witham, who had his head in his hand as she spoke, left the dock for a short period after she finished reading the statement.
He was jailed for a minimum of 43 years.
Barry, who was described by the prosecution as the ‘malign presence’ behind Ms Dale’s killing, was sentenced to a minimum term of 47 years.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Goose said Witham and Barry were equally the most culpable for the murder, as Witham carried out the shooting and Barry provided the gun and was the protagonist.
Joseph Peers, 29, said to be a ‘foot soldier’ who drove Witham to the scene, was sentenced to at least 41 years and Sean Zeisz, 28, was told to serve a minimum of 42 years for actively encouraging the shooting.
In a statement read to the court ahead of sentencing, Ashley’s grandmother SusanSteinhilber spoke of her heartbreak at losing her first grandchild.
She said: ‘I spent as much time as I could with Ashley as she grew as a baby, toddler, young child and teenager. At times she was my constant, delightful companion on visits to family and friends in Liverpool, who all adored her. My visions of her as a very pretty, happy, popular, clever and funny child will never leave me.
‘When Ashley graduated from John Moores University in environmental health at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral I could not have been prouder. My heart was bursting with love for her and I enjoyed her happiness on that special day so much.
‘I wake every morning hoping that this is just a bad dream, but it isn’t, I miss Ashley terribly, who is no longer with us in body but she will always be with us in spirit.’
Mr Justice Goose said the crime had ‘shocked both the local community and many in this country’ and was ‘beyond any understanding’.
He told the court just after 12.30am on August 21, Witham, wearing a balaclava and carrying a Skorpion sub-machine gun loaded with 15 bullets, broke through the front door of Ms Dale’s home.
Ms Dale was standing by the back door in the kitchen when she was hit in the abdomen, the court heard.
Mr Justice Goose said: ‘Witham wickedly fired 10 bullets towards her as she was vulnerable and defenceless.
‘Her screams were heard by neighbours.’
The jury heard a ‘drug feud’ between Barry and Mr Harrison was ‘re-ignited’ at the Glastonbury festival in June 2022.
During the festival, Barry was heard threatening to stab Mr Harrison and Zeisz was assaulted by a group said to include Jordan Thompson – a friend of Mr Harrison’s and member of the Hillside organised crime group with which he was associated.
Voicenotes and messages sent to friends by Ms Dale in the two months before her death were played during the trial describing the fall-out, which intensified when mutual friend Rikki Warnick took his own life in July last year.
Barry and Zeisz were also given concurrent sentences for drugs supply offences and Barry was sentenced for possession of prohibited firearms and conspiracy to sell or transfer firearms.
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