Gunman who killed Ashley Dale accused of 'advancing his lying' to help co-defendants

A gunman accused of murdering a 28-year-old woman in her home is "advancing his lying account" to get his co-defendants "out of it", a court has been told.

In the early hours of 21 August 2022, Environmental health worker Ashley Dale was shot with a Skorpion machine gun in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool.

Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, in his closing speech at Liverpool Crown Court, said James Witham, 41, who accepts firing the shot which killed Miss Dale, was attempting to be the "fall guy" for his co-defendants.

He said Witham, who admits manslaughter, and Joseph Peers, 29, were the “foot soldiers” in the plot, which is alleged to have been created due to a fall-out between the defendants and Miss Dale's partner Lee Harrison.

He said: “James Witham knows his own position in this trial is hopeless and his aim in advancing his lying account is to try and get the others out of it.”

He said Witham’s account, which included speaking to brothers, both called Dave, and learning of a machine gun buried in Stadt Moers Park, Huyton, which he then dug up using a jug, would be “laughable if this case were not so serious”.

He added: “The emergence of two brothers, Big Dave and Little Dave, and James Witham’s suggestion he had dug up a machine gun with a jug were moments of pure farce and I have no doubt every single one of us within the courtroom will remember Big and Little Dave and the digging jug for the rest of our lives.

“They revealed a man prepared to say anything, no matter how ridiculous, to escape the consequences of what he had done.”

He said the “spectacle” of Witham telling “absurdity after absurdity”, “wallowing in self pity” and making speeches about the innocence of his co-defendants showed the jury “the truth in this case”.

He added: “James Witham executed Ashley. He pursued her as she fled. He shot and killed her quite deliberately as part of a plot to which he had signed up.”

Mr Greaney described Niall Barry, 26, as the “malign presence” for what happened at the house on Leinster Road and said he had “major beef” with Lee Harrison.

Sean Zeisz and Ian Fitzgibbon, both 28, were also “organisers” in the plot, Mr Greaney said.

The jury also heard closing speeches on behalf of Peers and Kallum Radford, 26, who is accused of assisting an offender by helping to store the Hyundai used in the murder.

Steven Swift, representing Radford, said the defendant had been “thrown under the bus and used”.

He said: “You may think Kallum Radford stands in stark contrast to the other defendants in this case.

“You’re dealing with a man here, you may think, without gang allegiances, without involvement in fall-outs, not involved in threats, or in weapons.”

Barry, Zeisz, Fitgibbon, Witham and Peers deny the murder of Miss Dale, conspiracy to murder Mr Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon – a Skorpion sub-machine gun – and ammunition.

Kallum Radford, 26, denies assisting an offender.

The trial continues.