The mums of two of the defendants in the Ashley Dale murder trial locked horns as tensions simmered in the courtroom, the ECHO can reveal.
Ashley, 28, was shot dead in her own home on Leinster Road in Old Swan in the early hours of August 21 last year. James Witham, Joseph Peers, Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz have been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of the council worker's murder, and were unanimously convicted by a jury on Monday.
They were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder Ms Dale's boyfriend Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, namely a Skorpion submachine gun, and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Ian Fitzgibbon was cleared of these three charges while a sixth defendant, Kallum Radford, was acquitted of assisting an offender.
READ MORE: Ashley Dale killers must serve 173 years in prison after being handed life sentences
It can now be reported that the mothers of Barry and Fitzgibbon exchanged tense words in court towards the close of the case. Their row came after a morning of legal arguments on Thursday, November 9, in the absence of the jury ahead of closing speeches.
Standing in the public gallery, Barry's mum was heard to remark: "Your son gave him a knife."
Fitzgibbon's mum, who was situated near the exit to courtroom 51, then shouted back: "Tell your son not to touch a hair on his head."
The verbals then continued outside on the landing. The flare up reportedly cooled after one of Peers' family members intervened.
It came after Fitzgibbon claimed in his evidence that Barry had pulled out a knife to him at Glastonbury Festival and threatened to "stab up" Harrison. Voice notes found on Ms Dale's phone meanwhile alleged that Fitzgibbon had given Harrison a blade following this incident.
Radford also lost his temper at one stage during the proceedings, again when jurors were not present. While leaving the courtroom after the close of prosecutor Paul Greaney KC's closing speech, he was heard to rant: "Lying t***, lying b*****d."
More bizarrely, the defendants were heard singing the Human League's Don't You Want Me Baby before being brought into court on one occasion. Meanwhile, it is understood that one of Ashley's murderers kept a puzzle book with him in the dock in order to keep himself occupied.
Mr Greaney told jurors during the prosecution's opening last month that gunman Witham and "driver" Peers, were "dispatched" to Leinster Road to assassinate Harrison and "leave no witnesses". They had allegedly received their orders from Barry, Zeisz and Fitzgibbon - who were said to have been "directing operations" from a flat on Pilch Lane in Huyton.
The court heard that, at around 11.40pm on August 20 2022, two men approached Ashley’s white Volkswagen T-Roc car - which was parked outside the house - and slashed its tyres, causing the alarm to sound, in an effort to "lure" the occupants out. But it is thought Ashley believed the alarm had been set off by heavy rain and, as a result, did not leave her home, where she was spending the evening alone with her dachshund Darla,
Mr Greaney said: "The men who had damaged the car were not deterred. Fifty minutes later, at about 12.30am, they returned.
"This time, they were not to be diverted from their intention to kill. One of the men approached the front door of 40 Leinster Road and he kicked it in.
"Ashley plainly became aware of what was happening. She screamed and fled towards the back door of the house, but the man entered the house and he pursued her.
"He was armed with a machine gun and opened fire. Ashley was struck by a bullet - it passed through her abdomen, causing catastrophic damage."
Mr Greaney said that "certain events at Glastonbury Festival" in June 2022 had "played an important part" in the alleged motive behind the attack, adding: "Ashley Dale and Lee Harrison, her boyfriend, attended the festival, as did at least four of the defendants - Sean Zeisz, Niall Barry, Ian Fitzgibbon and James Witham. A group of other young men from Liverpool were also present, one of whom was a person called Jordan Thompson - who was known as Dusty.
"Lee Harrison seems to have had an association with the group of which Dusty was part. Whilst at the festival, Sean Zeisz was assaulted, and his attackers included Jordan Thompson.
"This attack appears to have occurred because Sean Zeisz was, as it was later expressed, arguing with everyone for Niall Barry - who was known as Branch. To compound the loss of face for Sean Zeisz, in the aftermath of the assault his girlfriend - a woman called Olivia, known as Liv, McDowell - stayed with the group of which Jordan Thompson, Lee Harrison and Ashley Dale were part.
"It is clear that Sean Zeisz felt deeply humiliated from what had happened at Glastonbury."
The court also heard that Barry then sided with Zeisz, with this "fresh" dispute having compounded a "separate and longstanding antagonism towards Lee Harrison", who was not present at the time of the attack. The suicide of Rikki Warnick, who had apparently been "bullied" by Thompson before his death, was also said to have increased tensions between the two factions.
Mr Greaney said: "Niall Barry used these new events at Glastonbury to reignite that old feud. And, as tensions simmered in Liverpool, Niall Barry made a series of threats directed towards Lee Harrison."
Witham, of Ashbury Road in Huyton, admitted having barged down the door of Ashley's home and spraying the property with bullets using a Skorpion submachine gun. But the 41-year-old claimed he did not see or hear Ashley inside and was instead attempting to "send a message" to Harrison, with whom he had supposedly been in dispute with over drug dealing in North Wales.
He denied having plotted with others to arrange the shooting beforehand, stating that he had decided to discharge the gun at the address, which he said he believed was empty, on the spur of the moment while drunk and high on cocaine. Witham maintained that he had found the weapon buried in Stadt Moers Park, having learned of its existence after speaking to a pair of brothers called "Big Dave and Little Dave" while at the Everton v Nottingham Forest match on the afternoon of August 20.
Peers, 29, of Woodlands Road in Roby, meanwhile told the court he had been at home watching a fight between Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk on the television with his dad at the time of the shooting. Barry, aged 26 and of Moscow Drive in Tuebrook, and 28-year-old Zeisz, of Longreach Road in Huyton, also said they had been watching the boxing in the Pilch Lane flat and had no knowledge of any plan to attack Leinster Road.
Yesterday, all four men were jailed for a total of 173 years.
Gunman Witham was imprisoned for life with a minimum term of 43 years, and getaway driver Peers was told he must serve at least 41 years behind bars before he will become eligible for release. "Organisers" Barry and Zeisz were also handed life sentences with 47 and 42 year tariffs
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