‘I hope my baby girl’s face haunts you every night’
» Mother of murder victim Ashley confronts ‘monsters’ » Two of the killers were also suspected of killing Olivia, 9
THE four men who killed Ashley Dale were branded monsters by her heartbroken mother as they learned they would each serve more than 40 years in jail.
Ashley’s family and friends cheered and clapped as James Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were sentenced.
Coward Witham, who had pulled the trigger, left the dock as Ashley’s mum, Julie, 46, gave her victim impact statement.
Addressing the four men, she said: “I will never, ever forgive you, for the life sentence you have given me and my family.
“I hope my words haunt you all for ever. You, James Witham – I hope when you go to sleep you too see my baby girl’s face as I do every single night.”
The court heard how drug dealers Barry and Zeisz had organised the murder plot with “hitman for hire” Witham and getaway driver Peers.
Witham and Peers were sent to Ashley’s house in Liverpool to kill her boyfriend Lee Harrison over a drugs feud.
Witham kicked down the front door and found Ashley, 28, alone in her pyjamas. He chased her with a sub-machine gun, firing 10 times.
Neighbours heard the shots and Ashley’s screams.
Police later found her dead in her own back garden.
Following the trial, it can now be revealed that Barry and Zeisz had also been suspects in the murder of nineyear-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel who was shot 24 hours later.
They were cleared through phone and CCTV evidence.
Ashley’s dad, Steven Dunne, told the court how he suffered “debilitating” PTSD after losing two children to fatal shootings.
Ashley’s little brother Lewis was 16 when he was killed in a case of mistaken identity.
Mr Dunne said he had sat in the same courtroom at the trial of Lewis’ killers, with Ashley by his side, eight years ago.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, he said: “I am now sitting with my one remaining child, having been put through the trauma of yet another trial, listening to those verdicts being read out in relation to Ashley’s murder.
“I have lost another child; a victim of big egos running around the city with powerful guns, involved in petty feuds and killing innocent people.”
Ashley’s family hit out at her boyfriend Lee Harrison, who drove past the murder scene without stopping and refused to help police with the inquiry.
Sentencing, Judge Goose said the killing was “wicked”. Barry will serve 47 years, Witham, 43, Zeisz, 42, and Peers, 41, before being eligible for parole.