Jury sworn in for trial of men accused of council worker’s murder

Judge Mr Justice Goose told the jury the trial was expected to open on Thursday.

Ashley Dale was shot dead in Old Swan, Liverpool, on August 21 2022 (Family handout/PA)

A jury has been sworn in for the trial of five men accused of the murder of a council worker shot dead at her home.

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

On Tuesday, a jury of seven women and five men was sworn in at Liverpool Crown Court for the trial of the men accused of her murder.

A man and a woman were sworn in to serve as spare jurors, to sit through the opening of the case.

Judge Mr Justice Goose told the jury the trial was expected to open on Thursday.

James Witham, 41, of Ashbury Road, Huyton, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Miss Dale but denies murder.

Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, of St Helens; Sean Zeisz, 27, of Huyton; Niall Barry, 26, of Tuebrook; and Joseph Peers, 29, of Roby – all Merseyside, are also in the dock and deny Miss Dale’s murder.

All five also deny conspiracy to murder Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, a Skorpion sub-machine gun, and ammunition.

A sixth defendant, Kallum Radford, 25, of no fixed address, denies assisting an offender.