UK - Ashley Dale, 28 fatally shot at home, Liverpool - 21 Aug 2022

[Legally Bland]

10:28JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'You know why James Witham went to Leinster Road'​

Mr Greaney: “To return to the case against James Witham, what the evidence reveals is James Witham is the subordinate of Niall Barry and that he is prepared to take responsibility for things that are the responsibility of Niall Barry. That is precisely what he’s doing in this case. James Witham knows his own position in this trial is hopeless. His aim is to try to get the others out of it.
“Third, motive. You hardly need to scratch the surface to realise the claimed motive of James Witham is false. His claim to have been subjected to terrible things to Lee Harrison flies in the face of the evidence, including the photograph he drew to your attention. There’s not the slightest hint in Ashley’s messaging of a problem between James Witham and Lee Harrison. All good sense demonstrates James Witham is lying. There is the overwhelming evidence of a major dispute between Niall Barry and Lee Harrison.
“Evidence emerged of Niall Barry having been robbed by a gang associated with Lee Harrison and looking for Lee Harrison with a knife at Glastonbury.”
He says messages from Ashley’s phone revealed a “major dispute” between Niall Barry and Lee Harrison.
PG: “Members of the jury can we put it this way. You know why James Witham went to Leinster Road on the night of Ashley’s killing.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

10:35JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Emergence of Big Dave and Little Dave 'moment of pure farce'​

Mr Greaney: “The fourth area for focus, the circumstances of the killing itself. For you to give credence of the account of James Witham you would have to accept each of the following. On leaving 267 Pilch Lane, Joseph Peers just wanted to get home a short walk away to watch the boxing but James Witham insisted on giving him a lift and he accepted. Rather than driving him the few minutes, James Witham took Joseph Peers on a magical mystery tour around the east of Liverpool, meaning that the journey which should have taken a small number of minutes took the best part of an hour.
“When Joseph Peers said part of the journey was to pick up cannabis while James Witham says it was to pick up cocaine and cannabis, James Witham was yet again making it up on the hoof and not making a very good job of it.
“It would require you to accept that when the Hyundai is seen, we say doing a recce, James Witham was the driver and sole occupant even though his phone is shown to be elsewhere. During this period there were several sightings of a grey Hyundai. the mobile attributed to James Witham did not use any cell suggesting it could be in the Hyundai. James Witham is making calls or engaged in telecommunications. The phone he is using is not in the car. What might be the explanation? The only conclusion, a rational one, is James Witham isn’t in the car. What conc does James Witham want you to accept? ‘Well I was’.
“His account would require you to accept that, even though the expert evidnece is that two knives were used to cause the damage of the car, the damage was in fact caused by James Witham with one knife with no difficulty. He even forgot to tell you his account of the knife breaking.
“It would require you to accept that having left Pilch Lane in circumstances the defendants were wholly unable to give an consistent account of, James Witham became enraged at Lee Harrison and wanted to give him a warning.
Mr Greaney refers to the moment Witham described talking to his friends ‘Big Dave and Little Dave’ on the afternoon of August 20, who told him a gun was buried in Stadt Moers Park.
PG: “What good fortune. I’ve decided I want to send out a warning and Big Dave told me earlier today where I could find a machine gun. It would require you to accept that he dug the firearm of with a shovel he happened to have in the car. No, it now requires you accept he dug the gun up with a jug within a field beyond the arch.
“The emergence of those two brothers, Big Dave and Little Dave, and James Witham,’s assertion he dug up the gun with a jug were moments of pure farce. Each one of us will remember Big and Little Dave for the rest of our lives. They revealed a man prepared to say anything, no matter how ridiculous, to escape the consequences of what he had done. What he had done was murder Ashley.”
“His account requires you to accept that he acquired the gun in circumstances where he dug the gun up in a park. He came from a flat where there was a man able to source that very type of gun.
“The gun was coincidentally pre-loaded. He played no part in loading the weapon, even though his DNA was on one of the cartridges.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

10:38KEY EVENT

'James Witham executed Ashley Dale'​

Mr Greaney: “It would require you to accept giving the warning to Lee Harrison required entering the house rather than shooting up Ashley’s car or the exterior of the house. Plainly, it would have looked to anyone that someone might be in. it would have been obvious to anyone with ears that the television was on.
“It would require you to accept even though James Witham went upstairs first and fired, Ashley didn’t flee. Instead, she waited patiently downstairs in order to be shot. It requires you to accept even though neighbours heard Ashley shout ‘get the *advertiser censored*** out’, he heard not a sound from Ashley. It would require you to accept that James Witham didn’t see Ashley, even though you’ve seen with your own eyes what the lighting was like and have heard accounts from the officers who were in conditions identical to the defendant.
“It’s tempting to say if you believe that then you will believe anything and then move on. But the seriousness of this case requires me to say more. The spectacle of James Witham presenting lie after lie, absurdity after absurdity, wallowing in his own self-pity and making speech after speech about the innocence of the defendants shows you the truth in this case. The truth is James Witham smashed his way into Ashleys home. In her pyjamas, she was confronted with a man armed with a machine gun and wearing a balaclava. She must have been terrified. James Witham executed Ashley Dale. He shot and killed her as part of a plot to which he had signed up.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

10:42JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Joseph Peers 'looked at us and told bare faced lies'​

Mr Greaney: “Next, Joseph Peers. he claims to have been wholly unaware of the drug dealing activities of his co accused despite his association with them and trip to North Wales with them. He claims to have been wholly unaware 267 Pilch Lane was being used to grow cannabis in the face of the evidence of his other defendants that the place stank of it. He looked at us and told bare faced lies.
“Joseph Peers told you he knew nothing of the plot to murder Lee Harrison even though he spent a month on holiday with Sean Zeisz at a time when Sean Zeisz was enraged about the relationship of Dusty and Olivia McDowell. he was talking to Niall Barry about it. Even Sean Zeisz says the frame of mind I was in, I would have likely spoken to him about it. Joseph Peers says he wasn’t told a word about what was happening in Sean Zeisz’s life at that time. He looked at you and he told you a bare faced lie
“Joseph Peers said nothing about James Witham having been ejected from the flat on the night of the 20th or being rowdy and wanting to buy cocaine. Yet as soon as Mr Reisz on behalf of Niall Barry asked if this was so, he agreed. You saw another example of the extent to which Niall Barry controls this gang.
“Joseph Peers claims he left 267 Pilch Lane in order to go home and watch the boxing with his father, even though the position of the defendants was he made clear he would be watching the boxing in the flat. He maintained I was forced to accept a lift from James Witham, who drove me around Liverpool for the best part of an hour. It’s an account that is wholly lacking in credibility. If they weren't doing what they say they were doing, what were they doing?”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

10:53JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Peers 'Drove the gunman and slashed tyres on Ashley's car'​

Mr Greaney: “Fifth, there is no dispute the Hyundai was the one acquired on August 15. At one stage there was explored on behalf of Joseph Peers the possibility that what we saw at 10.20 was a different vehicle. We learnt all about other Hyundai that existed or passed through the Merseyside area, people going to conferences or who had them in their yards. That issue was examined at one stage. Now, when it's come to it, both Joseph Peers and James Witham have accepted expressly that the vehicle shown on Glen Road is the vehicle with which we are concerned. Joseph Peers even gave an explanation for the in and out.
“We know the vehicle we see at 10.20 is our vehicle. The only sensible conclusion is that James Witham was not in the car at that time. That’s the conclusion to which the cell site evidence drives us. So who was driving the car at the time? That was, we sugges,t a recce of the general area of Old Swan. We recognise it doesn’t go to Leinster Road itself, but it's obviously a recce of the general area.
“Who was driving it if it wasn’t James Witham? There’s only a single candidate. That candidate is Joseph Peers. That was his job that night. Drive and support the gunman, James Witham.
“Sixth, the damage to the tyres on Ashley’s car. The only sensible conclusion is the damage was caused by two knives. That’s the conclusion the expert evidence drives us to. Can there be another credible explanation, save that one man is on one side of the car with one knife and another man on the other side with another knife? Who are those two men?
“One, we know, is James Witham. Who’s the other? There is only a single candidate. Joseph Peers.
“Seventh, the phone of Joseph Peers was plainly switched off for the whole of the period around the killing save for 11.09pm when, who should he speak to?
“Eight, Joseph Peers returned to 267 Pilch Lane with James Witham after the killing not because he had been dropped at home in his pyjamas but because he had not been at home throughout.
“Ninth, in the aftermath Joseph Peers spent time with James Witham. Not because they wanted to enjoy a swim, steam and sauna together. Not because he was being taken advantage. He had been in it with James Witham. That’s why they spent two nights in a hotel together. That’s why they went to Scotland together and returned together. That’s why they stayed at the Mercure again. That’s why he used James Witham’s debit card on August 29. That’s why on September 13 they were returning together from Scotland, because they were in it together.
“Tenth, the claim of Joseph Peers that he had no idea that James Witham had done anything until he gave a false name on arrest on September 13 is lacking any credibility. How could he not have known? They spent all of that time together and at no stage did he know or suspect that James Witham had been involved in that killing. Let's look at one example that illustrates his lies. It’s the day that the search warrant was executed at James Witham’s home. Julie, Witham’s sister, sends him a text. What do you think that was about? Was there anything more important than the fact police officers had turned up with a search warrant? James Witham replies to his sister. That flurry of panicked calls by James Witham to his sister. What we have in the middle, calls by Joseph Peers to his mum. The claim of James Witham that all that activity was unrelated to the fact his home was being searched was ludicrous. So too is the claim of Joseph Peers that his calls were entirely coincidental. He was calling to see if his front door had been put it. It demonstrates again, Joseph Peers the liar. If Joseph Peers knew James Witham was or might be the killer, why did he continue to stay in his company? No innocent person would do that. What is the explanation for his undoubted knowledge of Witham’s involvement and the fact he stayed with him. The explanation is Joseph Peers knew throughout James Witham had killed Ashley, because he was there when it happened, playing a part. That’s why he stayed with James Witham.
“Eleventh and finally. For the parents of Joseph Peers to be put through the experience of coming to court and tell lies for their son was sad to see, but they were telling lies. When you come to conclude what you think about them please bear in mind they had a CCTV system at their home. If the alibi of Joseph Peers was correct, he would have been captured returning home at 11.20 and returning in the early hours of the next morning. It would have been a complete answer to the prosecution case. Is it credible that notwithstanding that, neither Joseph Peers or his parents sought to see what was in that footage let alone preserve it? It is not. The only explanation is they knew it wouldn’t show him at home.
“That’s because Joseph Peers, like James Witham, was thoroughly engaged in a plot to kill, driving the gunman and causing damage to Ashley’s car with a view to flushing the occupants of the house out so they could be shot. And like James Witham, Joseph Peers is guilty of each of the offences with which he is charged.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

10:59JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Barry 'still in contact with EncroChat associates' in summer 2022​

Mr Greaney says: “I can see Mr Witham has left the dock. I don’t know if he is visiting the lavatory or if he is gone for good.”
Richard Pratt, KC, defending Witham, says: “I will guard his interests”.
Mr Justice Goose instructs Mr Greaney to continue.
PG: “Next Niall Barry. He is the malign presence behind what happened at 40 Leinster Road that night. You know this about him. First, he had a major beef with Lee Harrison that had arisen in circumstances in which he had lost money and face. It was still very raw. Niall Barry made a threat to stab a group of which Lee Harrison was part, and according to Ian Fitzgibbon was directly to Lee Harrison. the dispute was very real and very serious last summer.”
Witham returns to the dock.
PG: “We know Niall Barry had access to weapons including a Skorpion submachine gun. Niall Barry will say this was me just pretending to be tough, and by last year you can be assured I no longer had access to firearms. This is something that was so obviously a part of Niall Barry’s activity in 2020 but had ceased by 2022, notwithstanding that his other criminality had continued unabated. Niall Barry knew the identities, the real identities, of each of those whom he was in contact with in 2020. He was still in regular contact last summer with two of them. The relationships he had to enable him to access firearms were still real and present last summer. No realistic assessment leads to any conclusion save that last August, Niall Barry was able to source firearms including automatic weapons and including Skorpion sub-machine guns.
“It gives rise to two possibilities. First, that Jameds Witham left Niall Barry at 267 Pilch Lane on the night of the 20th to attack the home of a man who was Niall Barry’s enemy with the very type of weapon Niall Barry was able to source and those facts are entirely coincidental. Those things have nothing to do with Niall Barry. That’s his possibility. Second is James Witham left Niall Barry at 267 Pilch Lane that night to attack the home of a man who was Niall Barry enemy with the type of weapon Niall Barry was able to source because that was what Niall Barry had commissioned. The second is plainly the position.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

11:01KEY EVENT

Niall Barry 'had motive to wish Lee Harrison dead'​

Mr Greaney: “Niall Barry had the motive to wish Lee Harrison dead. Niall Barrywas plainly highly motivated to wish Lee Harrison harm in summer last year, as events as Glastonbury demonstrate. He was unleashed by the breakdown in the relationship between Liv McDowell and Sean Zeisz. a peace had been maintained, but that broke down after Glastonbury.
“Niall Barry made specific threats to Lee Harrison on July 26, less than four weeks before Ashley’s death. Those were threats of serious violence including the use of a gun, which plainly terrified Ashley.
“Niall Barry was clearly the controlling influence in the gang of which James Witham was part. He was in attempted contact with the hit team during the period of operations. Why was he making contact? He had no credible explanation.
“On his account, he had kicked James Witham out of the flat and Joseph Peers was going to his mother’s home. Why was he seeking to contact James Witham if he had kicked him out? What basis did he have for thinking they might still be together? He had none. He contacts one, then when he doesn’t get through he contacts the other. Just as if you would if you knew they were together. He knew they were on a mission to kill Lee Harrison, letting no one get in their way.
“His assertion of wanting to apprehend James Witham is completely ridiculous. He completed drug deals and went to a hotel. At no stage did he tell the police. He attempted to flee to mainland Europe, seeking to use an underworld fixer. Why did Niall Barry do that if entirely innocent?
“Niall Barry is, you should be sure, guilty of each of the offences with which he’s charged.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legal]

dbm

 

[Legally Bland]

11:08KEY EVENT

Sean Zeisz's 'rage was uncontrolled'​

Mr Greaney: “Fourth, Sean Zeisz. we’ve looked at much of the evidence that implicates him. He is intimately bound up in the motive for the murder. His relationship with Olivia McDowell held the peace in the major beef between Niall Barry and Lee Harrison. That relationship broke down in spectacular circumstances at Glastonbury, when Sean Zeisz was humiliated. In the aftermath Olivia McDowell took up with Dusty, and Sean Zeisz believed Dusty was responsible for the death of Rikki Warnick. Dusty discharged a firearm saying ‘tell Zest that’s for him’.
“The peace had been kept by the relationship. The relationship ended in circumstances of considerable rancour. Lee Harrison was also implicated in the breakdown of the relationship. Liv had stayed with Dusty, and Lee was close friends with Dusty.
“By August last year, the rage of Sean Zeisz was out of control. There’s simply no way to read and listen to his messages and come to any other conclusion. ‘Proper little trouble causer you mate. You *advertiser censored***** little rat, need to die’. Five days before Ashley’s death. He was up for something terrible to happen.
“The account Sean Zeisz gives of the departure of Joseph Peers and James Witham from the flat is manufactured. The idea of James Witham being ejected, an account supported by Niall Barry but not Ian Fitzgibbon or Joseph Peers, that account is one he made no mention of in his defence statement and one he has invented to give credibility to his account.
“Following his arrest, Sean Zeisz was asked to give an explanations for the telecommunications the investigation would reveal. What did Sean Zeisz say at that stage? He said a number of things. One of the things he said was this. As soon as Joe, Joseph Peers, left I called him to ask him to get us some cigarettes. I called him two or three times, but he didn’t answer. As soon as Joe left. There’s a problem with that. The first call he made to Joseph Peers after Joseph Peers had left the flat at 10 past 10 wasn’t straight away. It was nearly an hour later. If he really wanted cigarettes, why not go to the shop next door but one? He lied to you about that call.
“There was other contact. At 10 past 11, actual contact, duration 23 seconds, between Sean Zeisz and Joseph Peers. if you’re satisfied Joseph Peers was involved in the killing, at this point, 25 minutes before the attack on the car, what do you think that contact was about?
“Who was the first person to speak to Joseph Peers after he switched his phone back on. There it is. At 00.47 hours. It was Sean Zeisz.
“Fifth, the account of Sean Zeisz of going to his mother’s home in the afternoon after the killing for a roast lamb lunch is improbable in the extreme. In the aftermath of the killing. Leaving his friends outside waiting for a lamb sandwich. The reality is Sean Zeisz was involved in the movements of the Hyundai on false plates to St Helens. Peers, Zeisz and Fitzgibbon. All of their phones are inactive at the time the car was taken to St Helens.
“Kallum Radford initially said Zest was one of the three men who entered the car. He hasn’t entered the witness box, so that’s not evidence against Sean Zeisz. We do not say you should rely upon that, and My Lord will give you directions. What we rely upon is the absurdity of the sandwich story, as well as the coincidence of the phones being off.
“The suggestion he wanted to apprehend James Witham and hand him over to the police is nonsense. What did he actual do? He did a drug deal, he made no attempt to tell the authorities what he knew.
“Sean Zeisz is guilty of each of the offences with which he is charged.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

11:14KEY EVENT

Fitzgibbon had 'chosen his side'​

Mr Greaney “Fifth, and final of the murderers, Ian Fitzgibbon. the case can be simply stated but is, we suggest, no less powerful for that. First, it seems clear that for a period that including Glastonbury, Ian Fitzgibbon was able to span the dispute with a foot on either side. But in the aftermath of the death of Rikki Warnick, he chose his side. That side was Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz. he expressed himself confused and perplexed why the Crown were saying he had aligned himself with Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz. it’s obvious. Rikki Warnick was a close friend of his. He believed Dusty was behind what happened and aligned himself behind the antagonists of Dusty and Lee Harrison.
“The day after Rikki’s death. Sean Zeisz reported ‘Ian has just booted the door off’. Wanting Niall Barry to go and rip all of Liv’s possessions out of the flat, he said ‘Ian has booted the door off’. There is only one Ian in this case, that is Ian Fitzgibbon. What possible reason would Sean Zeisz have to lie about that in a message he thought was private to a person he was also asking to get involved. Ian has just booted the door off.
“Ashley reported that when Dusty discharged the firearm saying tell Zest that’s for him, Ian Fitzgibbon was with Sean Zeisz. she said ‘now Ian is out with Branch’. When we say that Ian Fitzgibbon had chosen his side, it isn't theorising. It isn't fantasy. It’s founded in the evidence.
“Second on August 19 and 20, Ian Fitzgibbon was associated with the crew at 267 Pilch Lane. Spending four hours there on the night of August 19 and taking James Witham to buy his new trainers. He was there on the night of the 20th.
“We would never suggest, and my Lord would not permit us to, that mere presence in that flat is enough. But it’s a factor, and in his case it’s not mere presence. There is so much more. There’s the motive he signed up to and what he does when in that flat. Whilst at the flat on that night, following the departure of James Witham and Joseph Peers to do the killing, Ian Fitzgibbon was in communication or at least attempted communication with them. At 10.18 a text, Ian Fitzgibbon to James Witham who you can be sure was a man on his way to carry out the killing. 10.23, Witham replies. Why is the man on that mission taking the trouble to contact Ian Fitzgibbon if Ian Fitzgibbon isn’t in on it? Ian Fitzgibbon replies, and James Witham replies to him. At 11.06, an attempt by Ian Fitzgibbon to call James Witham. then within the same minute, Joseph Peers and then again James Witham. again, he’s contacting both of them.
“Once you conclude that those two men, Joseph Peers and James Witham, had left that flat to carry out the killing, what were those communications about? They weren’t about cigarettes, they were not about the boxing. Two men with a machine gun on their way to execute a rival weren’t bothered about cigarettes or boxing. They were about the plot to kill Lee Harrison.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

11:17JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Fitzgibbon 'fled to Dubai'​

Mr Greaney: “Later that day Ian Fitzgibbon continued to associate with Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz. Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz undoubtedly were involved in the plot. If that’s right, why is Ian Fitzgibbon trying to associate with them? The reason is he was in it with them.”
“Fifth and finally, Ian Fitzgibbon fled to Dubai. He feared retaliation for his mother and sister’s. How was staying in Dubai going to address that? He feared a knock at the door, but he made no attempt, even anonymously, to tell the authorities what he claimed he knew. He fled to Dubai, you can be sure to escape the consequences of his knowing involvement in this plot.
“Ian Fitzgibbon like the others, is guilty of each of the offences with which he’s charged.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

11:23JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'Why was Radford not able to enter the witness box?'​

Mr Greaney “We will turn finally to Kallum Radford. It must be proved that Joseph Peers or Sean Zeisz are guilty of any of the charges. We have set out why both men are guilty. Secondly, it must be proved Kallum Radford either knew or believed Joseph Peers or Sean Zeisz had committed that offence or some other relevant offence. This is the real issue. He accepts that he assisted Joseph Peers to store the vehicle out of the way in St Helens. The issue is whether he knew or believed Joseph Peers or Sean Zeisz had been involved. We say the evidence demonstrates beyond doubt he had the knowledge.
“It seems from the limited questioning on his behalf, it will be argued this car was hardly concealed so he can’t have known anything was up. As we heard from Constable Ward, no one else had noticed the vehicle and if he hadn’t been called to the address for unrelated reasons it might never have been seen.”
“Kallum Radford gave different accounts concerning his management and possession of the Hyundai. if his involvement was wholly innocent, why was he not able to give a consistent account? He cannot tell the truth, because he is guilty.
“Fourth, Joseph is a friend of Kallum Raford. that is obvious. Kallum Radford even has his mum’s number. Joseph Peers had been arrested on September 13 on suspicion of a murder that attracted attention nationally and internationally. It is incredible that he did not become aware his friend had been arrested for that crime. If he did become aware, what did that mean? He stored that car for a further month in the knowledge or belief it had become involved in that dreadful crime.
“Fifth, on October 9 when the car was found, Abbie Jevens sent Kallum Radford a message to tell him the car had been seized. He stopped using his phone and disposed of it. That was not as a result of finding his father dead. It was a consequence of the knowledge that a car he was minding had been found and he was seeking to destroy the evidence of his links and his knowing storage of it.
“Sixth, Kallum Radford alone has not entered the witness box. We would have had many questions for him. How could you not have thought there was something deeply suspicious about someone wanting to store a valuable car on a drive in St Helens? Were you aware Ashley had been murdered? Did you become aware a Hyundai vehicle was say to be involved? Did it make you wonder about the car you were managing? You were a good friend of Joseph Peers, when he was arrested, why did you store that vehicle for another month? Why did you initially say Zest was one of three men who brought the car to St Helens and why did you give such strikingly different accounts?”
“He has no credible answer for those questions, or for others….You should be sure he stayed out of that witness box because he knows he would have been exposed.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

11:26JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Prosecution concludes closing speech​

Mr Greaney “Third, it must be proved Kallum Radford arranged for the vehicle to be parked on the driveway of those two houses. It must be proved Kallum Radford intended to impede the arrest of Joseph Peers or Sean Zeisz by the police. What else did he intend? Why conceal a car used in a murder save to thwart the investigation?
“Kallum Radford. We have not heard from him. On the evidence he is guilty of count for. The evidence requires a verdict of guilty.”
Mr Greaney draws his speech to a close: “Members of the jury. That is what we wish to say to you at the end of all the evidence. It’s for the prosecution to make you sure of guilt. We submit when you conduct that cool, objective and dispassionate analysis of the evidence, you will be sure each of those six defendants in the dock is guilty of the offence or offences with which he is charged.”
Mr Greaney says he has other commitments which means he will not be present for the closing speeches on behalf of Peers and Radford and apologises for his absence.
Justice Goose calls for a 15-minute break.

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

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[Legally Bland]

11:50JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Speech for Joseph Peers begins​

Mr Justice Goose is back in court and the jury take their seats.
Peter Wright, KC, defending Joseph Peers, rises to begin his closing speech.

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

11:54JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Mr Wright: 'Prosecution case theory sorely lacking'​

Mr Wright says: “My address is divided into four sections. That’s in an attempt to deal with topics I hope will be of assistance to you. First I'm going to deal with the prosecution on the shared theory that led these men to be, it is alleged, in a plot to murder Lee Harrison that led tragically to the death of Ashley Dale. Nobody in this courtroom can have anything but sympathy for that family in hearing the details of this case. I say that, because in due course I’m going to make various submissions on behalf of Joseph Peers that demonstrate there may be another tale to tell here as far as he is concerned.
“I’m going to be saying so far as shared motive is concerned, and a motive shared allegedly by Joseph Peers, it is a theory that is left sorely lacking in respect of him.
“Second, I’ll deal with the question posed by the prosecution as to why Joseph Peers and James Witham left and returned together to 267 Pilch Lane and the danger inherent in the prosecution thesis that that was because he, Joseph Peers, was part of a plot, part of the killing of Ashley Dale.
“Third, I’ll deal with his conduct after the shooting which is allegedly consistent with his guilt. In particular, the storage of the Hyundai and the stays in hotels and in Scotland.
“Fourth and finally, I shall seek to review certain events on August 20 and 21, to consider the evidence of alibi and what you can conclude as to the involvement of him in these terrible events.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

12:01JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'Joseph Peers is not the man the prosecution would invite you to conclude he is'​

Mr Wright: “First, motive or shared motive. Why would Joseph Peers be involved in a plot to murder Lee Harrison and anyone who got in their way, or may be in a position to bear witness to their terrible and deadly scheme. Why? What was it that confirms their central thesis that he was an active and central participant in it? What is the beef? What score did he have to settle? What skin did he have in this feud?
“On behalf of Joseph Peers, we’re still waiting to find out. We do not invite preference of one suggested motive over another. We say, whatever the motive, and you may feel there was a motive, and a very strong one to do what was done here, it had nothing to do with Joseph Peers.
“In any event, we need consider only the prosecution case not any other suggestion of any rival or competing motive for any acts here. At the very centre of the prosecution case is a thesis based on various events. Past held grievances, grudges or vendettas that have seemingly nothing to do with him. In opening this case, the prosecution asserted the defendants were people with a strongly developed desire to wish Ashley Dale’s boyfriend Lee Harrison harm. Men who were highly antagonistic towards Lee Harrison. in their exhaustive, detailed, careful analysis of the evidence in this case and to which the messages and voice notes bear witness, poignantly, the prosecution say that material provides an invaluable source of information about what had occurred and happened once Ashley Dale and Lee Harrison return to Liverpool. Further they say it explains why an attack was launched on 40 Leinster Road and why Ashley was killed.
“That was in the opening. In the closing address, Mr Greaney asserted that identifying the motive will unlock the reason for the killing in this case. His words. We say these various assertions underline the very flaw in this central thesis in so far as it may conceivably apply to Joseph Peers and the evidence in this case. Put simply, there is not a shred of evidence to support it in respect of him. If that is that uncomfortable truth in a case in which motive plays such a prominent and vital part of the prosecution case, what of the opposite of this? Of a case against Joseph Peers, shorn of motive, grudge, grievance or vendetta?
“If the material held in Ashley Dale’s phone was invaluable in unlocking this case, what does it tell you by its silence on that topic? We say the evidence is clear. Joseph Peers is not the man the prosecution would invite you to conclude he is. In this case, their central thesis as to who bore Lee Harrison and inferentially Ashley Dale, based on the events of that night, such murderous ill will, that it is a thesis that is profoundly misplaced in his case.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

12:03JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'Prosecution mantra'​

Mr Wright: “Second section, the rhetorical question. Mr Greaney made this observation. He asked you to consider why was James Witham accompanied by Joseph Peers as he left 267 to embark on this mission? To which he said the ‘conclusion we invite you to come to is simple, Joseph Peers was a part of the plot and part of the killing. That’s why he accompanied James Witham.
“We say it is an analysis that is high on emotional charge but low on forensic potency. When precisely did he become a missionary bent on wreaking such terrible revenge on Lee Harrison and why?
“The prosecution analysis in respect of Joseph Peets is to be commended on its brevity and directness. It's a straightforward attempt to connect cause with effect. What it reveals is the circularity of the prosecution theory. He was part of the plot because he was there at 267, and returned with James Witham. He was there at the shooting because he was part of the plot. As if by chanting this mantra, one confirms the other as opposed to any incremental proof by evidence that he was there at 267 in performance of the plot and in Leinster Road as part of the killing.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

12:13JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'Evidential silence deafening'​

Mr Wright asks for the CCTV from Pilch Lane showing Joseph Peers’s departure and return.
PW: “Let's look at what the evidence actually amounts to that contextualises his movements and any strong desire to wish Lee Harrison harm. The evidential silence in this case, we say, is deafening. Not a single syllable in respect of Joseph Peers. instead, we have received evidence that was designed, perfectly properly, to by inference draw Joseph Peers into the circle of shared antipathy towards Lee Harrison and the reignition of an old feud by recent events.
“An attempt was made to shoehorn him into events at Glastonbury, which on analysis amounts to not even guilt by association but as it turns out guilt by almost association. That for a period of time over the weekend of Glastonbury festival, Joseph Peers was in the vicinity of the Glastonbury festival. Not even at it, but in the vicinity of it. Together with two or three hundred thousand others.
“By what must have been some form of osmosis, he became infused with the antipathy of others. That’s a great theory, but there’s no evidence to that effect at all. Almost associated by geographical proximity to Glastonbury, not even at it or in it.
“Second, an attempt to associate Joseph Peers with the North Wales, Kyle drug line and the cannabis crop at 267. The latter of these, the cannabis crop. Notwithstanding there is not a scintilla of evidence linking him to it or to its removal the following day or to its disposal the following day. No involvement at all.
“So it’s by, again, association within the flat where there must have been a bag of cannabis in the living room or there was in the grow room the cannabis that was indeed the business of someone else or others. This of course in a flat habitually used to smoke cannabis. Somehow the smell of cut cannabis rather than smoked cannabis in an adjoining room would be enough to alert him to its presence and enfuse him with the shared antipathy of others rather than the smell of cannabis. Attractive but without basis.
“As to the Kyle Line, in addition to his presence in North Wales on August 19 there was nothing of evidential significance. Nothing. You will recall the evidence of Mr Tarpey, the cell site expert, and also the footage of Joseph Peers in the Co-op on this topic. You’ll note the time of these events. Mr Tarpey was asked about the movement of the defendant towards that shop, his being on the phone at the time. Then, the time of the calls to the Kyle Line. what it confirmed was, and Mr Tarpey accepted the proposition, it effectively excluded him from use of the Kyle Line. what does it amount to? Why was such an exercise undertaken by the prosecution in respect of these topics? Because shorn of any such connection with the background to this case, be it drug related or personal. The frailty of the prosecution mantra, part of the plot, part of the killing. It doesn’t matter how many times you repeat it. Where is the evidence? The frailty of the pros mantra is exposed.
“What then of your task. How do you approach the evidence of association. The evidence of his movements. The post shooting conduct. His association with James Witham and his trips to hotels, his time in St Helens and Scotland. We say, with care is the answer and conscious of who has to prove what in this case. That Joseph Peers need prove nothing and the prosecution bear the responsibility start to end of proving their case, to that exacting standard, so that you are sure.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

12:22JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

Peers made 'no efforts to conceal identity or whereabouts'​

Mr Wright: “Third section ladies and gentlemen. Post shooting conduct, allegedly consistent with guilt. Let us first consider the removal and storage of the Hyundai, and which incidentally this Joe - as opposed to any Joey in this case - had no involvement in either the purchase or associated efforts to legitimise or plate it after it had been purchased.
“If you conclude that Joseph Peers knew that the Hyundai had been used in the commission of a crime, even the crime alleged in this case, although you will bear in mind the agreed facts on this topic as to what was and what was not in the public domain in the immediate aftermath of the shooting by virtue of press report, police media releases. That does not make him guilty of the offences with which he is charged.
“Knowledge after the event, efforts to cover it up, cannot be converted into guilt. Participation after the event is not to be equated to participation in the event. Joseph Peers’s case is he had no idea the Hyundai or James Witham had been involved in the shooting of Ashley Dale. Even if you reject that, what does it amount to? Does it amount to participation in events after the event, or are you sure because of other evidence that this amounts to efforts on his part to conceal his connection to and participation in the shooting?
“Which of these may be true and reflect his involvement? You may wish to consider what efforts did he take to conceal his movement, to conceal his identity or his association with James Witham or the Hyundai in the aftermath of this event?
“Concerning the Hyundai. save for the inactivity of his mobile phone, his movements to and from Redgate Drive in St Helens and his home in Woodlands Road were hardly the product of great subterfuge. Time and again, he was picked up and dropped off at or close to his home. If the inactivity of his phone is a matter of significance, why does it involve the use of a phone over the entirety of the period in question which remained attributable to him?
“Why if he was at pains to distance himself from the Hyundai because he feared it connected him to the Hyundai did he leave his DNA in a discarded water bottle top. How is such carelessness consistent with the apparent wiping of the vehicle?
“Each of the matters are we say much more consistent with his case than the case of the prosecution. You may expect it to be confirmed by acts of concealment, destruction, disposal and disguise rather than, we have here, evidence of acts accompanied by transparency, retention and continuity.
“As to his association with James Witham and the trips to hotels or Scotland, if he was seeking to conceal his connection to him and the shooting why are all the arrangements so transparently attributable to him? What efforts does he make to conceal his whereabouts? None. Why wouldn’t every fibre of his body lead him to do the opposite of what he did. Distance himself from James Witham, go under the radar, dispose of his phone. To lie as to his identity. None of those apply to him.
“As a general observation, if he was lying low after the shooting he was hardly making a convincing job of it. On his return to Liverpool, he spent the night with his gf at the Mercure with James Witham, who also checked in at the same time. The next day they checked out. Where did he go? He spent the next nine days, nine days, at home in Woodlands Road. If, as the prosecution assert, the flurry of activity following the execution of a search warrant at James Witham’s home on that late afternoon just as these men were arriving back in the Merseyside area, if that was sufficient to alert Joseph Peers by virtue of the telephone calls or messages involving James Witham’s sister and then the further attempts by James Witham to contact his sister and in between those a failed call within a call then a call by Joseph Peers to his mum at Woodlands Road. if that was all in order to check whether his door had been put through rather than his habit to call his mum when he was almost home, why if it’s the former rather than the latter, did he then, having spent the night with his girlfriend, if he was expecting the knock on the door, as there had been the knock on the door at James Witham’s house, why did he go home and then stay for nine days at Woodlands Road? It beggars belief that he would do so expecting the knock on the door if these two were in it and he was part of the plot, part of the killing.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[Legally Bland]

12:25JONATHAN HUMPHRIES

'So much for going under the radar'​

Mr Wright: “What then happened? On the evening of September 4, he returns to Scotland. Even then the police have not been in attendance at his home. As for the suggestion he must have realised from September 4, you’ll remember there was what was referred to as the search warrant. You have the Crown’s suggestion he must have realised from September 5 that the police wanted to speak to him. The section 17 search warrant executed at Woodlands Road by Merseyside Police made no reference to Joseph Peers to any other person or to any involvement by the police into the shooting of Ashley Dale. nothing. Again, is it by some form of osmosis that he is to be infused by knowledge of what the police are interested in and what they wish to speak to him about?
“If, then, he’s going under the radar why then does he continue to use a telephone number that is and remained attributable to him and was in his possession in the front seat of that Audi vehicle when he was arrested on September 13 travelling towards Livepool. So much for going under the radar.
“What do we have in this case? As to the events leading up to the shooting, any asserted motive, nothing. As to the events after the shooting, we would say a less than compelling case in respect of any concealment, destruction, disposal, disguise or disappearance.”

Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens

The 28-year-old was shot dead at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk