Two men deny murder over shooting death of council worker Ashley Dale

Two men have denied the murder of a council worker who was fatally shot.

Ashley Dale, 28, was found with a gunshot wound in the back garden of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, on 21 August last year.

Sean Zeisz, 27, and Niall Barry, 26, entered not guilty pleas to her murder at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.

The two men also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Zeisz, of Longreach Road, Huyton; and Barry, of Moscow Drive, Tuebrook; appeared via videolink from HMP Wakefield.

Two other men: James Witham, 41; and Joseph Peers, 28; pleaded not guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

They are set to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on 2 October along with Kallum Radford, who denies assisting an offender.

Ms Dale, an environmental health officer for Knowsley Council, was one of three people fatally shot within a week in Liverpool last year: nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed in her home in Dovecot on 22 August; and Sam Rimmer, 22, was shot in Dingle on 16 August.