BREAKING: Four men found guilty of murder of Ashley Dale who was shot in her home

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Four men have been found guilty of the murder of Ashley Dale in Liverpool. Ashley, 28, was killed when gunman James Witham, 41, forced open the door of her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of August 21 last year, firing 10 bullets in her dining room, one hitting Ms Dale in the abdomen as she stood by the back door, and five bullets into the wall of an upstairs bedroom.

Witham admitted her manslaughter but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court also found him guilty of her murder, along with fellow “foot soldier” Joseph Peers, 29, who the prosecution alleged drove a Hyundai to the scene and earlier helped Witham to stab tyres on Ms Dale’s car in an attempt to lure out the occupants of the house. READ MORE: Police issue update after body of woman, 46, found near river READ MORE: Forensics scour scene after Tesco ATM blown apart in 'explosion' Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were also found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of the murder of environmental health officer Ashley.

The jury had heard in the trial that they organised and encouraged the killing - which came after a feud between Ashley's boyfriend Lee Harrison and Barry was re-ignited when Zeisz was assaulted at last year's Glastonbury festival.

Ian Fitzgibbon, 28, who was also accused of organising or encouraging the killing, was found not guilty of murder. Kallum Radford, 26, was found not guilty of assisting an offender by helping to store the car used in the murder.