Ashley was brutally killed in her own home during the early hours of August 21, 2022, over a feud that had nothing to do with her
A new documentary will focus on the murder of Ashley Dale, a 28-year-old council worker who was shot dead in her Old Swan home during the early hours of the morning on August 21, 2022. Ashley died after being shot in the abdomen with a Skorpion sub-machine gun in her home in Leinster Road as part of a plot to target her boyfriend Lee Harrison, who had made dangerous enemies even among former friends.
Four men were jailed for a total of 173 years for Ashley’s murder. James Witham, Joseph Peers, Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz were tried at Liverpool Crown Court accused of the council worker’s murder, and were unanimously convicted by a jury on Monday, November 20, 2023.
During the eight-week trial, a jury was told Ashley and Lee had made an agreement with each other days before she was killed. The court heard how Ashley had been having “terrible anxiety” over a growing feud between her boyfriend and Barry.
n a voice note Ashley sent to Olivia McDowell, the ex-girlfriend of Zeisz, Ashley said: “Had terrible anxiety yesterday, absolutely terrible anxiety I just can’t even be a**** speaking about anything don’t speak about all the madness just try and bring positive energy and vibes to the house. Me and Lee have said we’re not speaking about any madness, just trying to be as positive as we can you know what I mean?”
urors were later told Lee drove past the police cordon outside their home after Ashley was killed while on a night out with friends, and that he was later “totally uncooperative” with police. Police staff investigator Dave Rawsthorne, of the force’s major crime unit, said: “He just doesn’t want to engage with the police, he doesn’t want to help the police. He said he had no beef with these people and that he can’t believe it’s about an argument from years ago.”
Ashley’s mum Julie Dale is said to have asked “Where’s her boyfriend?” when police officers knocked at her door at 3am to tell her her daughter had been killed. Julie said: “Straight away, when the police officers knocked at our house at quarter to three in the morning on the 21st of August, we said straight away ‘Where’s her boyfriend?
“It’s got to be something to do with him. It’s not just a random attack someone doesn’t just break into someone’s home, and kill them. It’s got to be to do with him.” Following Ashley’s murder, after 10 days of no contact from Lee, Julie took the decision to visit him and ask for the truth.
She said: “I made the decision that I had to see him. I had to go and see him and see what he had to say and he sat there and denied he had any involvement. He couldn’t think of any reason what it was to do with.
“Well, he gave us three scenarios. One being a burglary gone wrong, some other ridiculous scenario that they came for somebody else who used to live in the property. None of the reasons were anything to do with him.”
Julie’s partner Rob, who came into Ashley’s life when she was 12, previously told the ECHO: “His last words, to me, were this is nothing to do with him. He gave us three ridiculous scenarios of what it might have been, when all the time he’s known exactly what it’s over. He’s refused to help.
“The lies, he might as well be in the dock with the six of them because he’s no different from them. The most horrific thing in the world ever you could do to another person, and to not just hold your hands up and say ‘You know what, enough is enough here I will tell the truth’.
“And they carried on and carried on the selfish nature of all them. And Lee’s the same.” Wednesday, August 21, marks two years since Ashley was murdered.
Channel 4 documentary Merseyside Detectives: The Murders of Ashley and Olivia will explore her killing, as well as the fatal shooting of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. Schoolgirl Olivia was shot and killed when a gunman forced his way into her family’s home in Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, at 10pm on August 22, 2022.
Both killings rocked Liverpool, and the new four-part documentary from Liverpool-based LA Productions features exclusive access to Merseyside Police’s investigations. Merseyside Detectives: The Murders of Ashley and Olivia begins tonight at 9pm on Channel 4 and All 4.