Murder suspect tells court he wanted to take Ashley Dale’s killer to police

Sean Zeisz is alleged to have been part of a plot to kill Miss Dale’s partner Lee Harrison in Liverpool.

Ashley Dale (Family handout/PA)

A drug dealer accused of murdering a council worker has told a court he wanted to lock her killer in a car and take him to a police station.

Environmental health officer Ashley Dale, 28, was shot with a machine pistol at home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year by James Witham, 41, who admits manslaughter.

Sean Zeisz, 28, is alleged to have been part of a plot to kill Miss Dale’s partner Lee Harrison, known as Saz, after a feud was reignited at the Glastonbury Festival.

Giving evidence at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, Zeisz said he had been in a flat in Pilch Lane, Huyton, Merseyside, on the evening of August 20 with Witham and co-defendants Niall Barry, 26, Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, and Joseph Peers, 29.

He said Peers and Witham left the flat but returned in the early hours of the morning and he had a spliff with them before going into the bedroom.

He said Barry later came into the bedroom and, referring to Witham, told him: “This soft c*** is saying he’s shot Saz’s house up.

Zeisz, of Longreach Road, Huyton, said he was not aware of any current issues between Witham and Mr Harrison and “did not believe him”.

He told the court: “I said to Niall ‘he’s chatting shit, he’s full of shit, him’, and I went back to bed.”

He said he woke up later in the morning after Peers and Witham had left, and Barry was “screaming” and told him Witham had killed Miss Dale, showing him an online news report of the shooting.

Asked how he felt, Zeisz, who said he was friends with Miss Dale and Mr Harrison, said: “Heartbroken. Devastated.”

The court heard that he later called Peers to find out if he was with Witham.

Zeisz said: “We were going to lock him in the car and take him to the police station.”

Being questioned by John Cooper KC, defending Fitzgibbon, Zeisz agreed that he, Barry and Fitzgibbon all said words to the effect that Witham was a “scumbag”.

Zeisz told the court he had been at Glastonbury in June 2022 and had been punched while there, but said there were no difficulties with Miss Dale and Mr Harrison, who also attended.

He said in summer last year he was “selling drugs” with Barry and making a “couple of grand” for every deal.

Asked how he was selling the drugs, he said: “Just getting off Peter and giving to Paul.”

Zeisz, Barry, Fitzgibbon, Witham and Peers all 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, denied assisting an offender.

The trial will continue next Tuesday.