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Four men have been handed life sentences for murdering council worker Ashley Dale who was shot in her garden in Liverpool.

The 28-year-old’s boyfriend Lee Harrison, a drug dealer who was in a feud with a rival gang, was the intended target, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

He was not at her home in Old Swan when gunman James Witham, 41, forced open the door in the early hours of 21 August last year.

He fired 10 bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine gun into her dining room, one hitting her in the abdomen as she stood by the back door, before shooting five more into an upstairs bedroom as a warning.

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Four men jailed for murder of Ashley Dale

Witham, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were found guilty on Monday of murdering Ms Dale, conspiring to murder Mr Harrison and possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition.

Witham was handed a minimum term of 43 years, while Peers, Barry and Zeisz were told they must serve 41 years, 47 years and 42 years respectively.

The judge Mr Justice Goose said the murder had “shocked both the local community and many in this country”, adding that the use of a military sub-machine gun to kill a young woman in her own home was “beyond any understanding”.

He said Ms Dale was in the “prime of her life” when Witham “wickedly fired 10 bullets” as she was “vulnerable and defenceless” in her home “where she should have been safe”.

James Witham, 41, fired 10 shots into Ms Dale's home
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James Witham, 41, fired 10 shots into Ms Dale’s home

The judge added that Mr Harrison’s refusal “to assist the police to bring her killers to justice” must have been “a cruel twist of fate” for Ms Dale’s family.

‘I will never forgive you’

He also referred to the “moving” victim impact statements from relatives including her mother, Julie Dale, 46, who told her daughter’s killers: “I hope you all understand that I will never ever forgive you, for the life sentence you have gave to me and my family.

“People speak about justice for Ashley but in my eyes there will never be justice, the only justice is that this would never have happened, although I can now rest knowing that you monsters are going to pay for what you have done to me and my family.

“And that you too have ruined your own lives and your family’s lives. I hope my words haunt you all forever and you James Witham; I hope when you go to sleep at night you too see my baby girl’s face as I do every single night.”

Ashley Dale with her father Steven Dunne
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Ashley Dale with her father Steven Dunne

Ms Dale was murdered seven years after her half brother Lewis Dunne was shot dead aged 16 in a case of mistaken identity when he was caught in the middle of a gang feud.

Their father Steven Dunne said he had “instantly been confined to a living nightmare” when he found out his daughter had been shot dead.

“I remember shouting ‘no’ for a long time at the top of my voice; I couldn’t believe it – history had repeated itself,” he said.

Feud reignited at Glastonbury festival

The court heard the feud began around three years before the shooting, when Mr Harrison sided with the Hillside organised crime group after they allegedly stole drugs from Barry.

It was reignited when they both attended the Glastonbury festival in June 2022 and described by Ms Dale in voicenotes she sent to friends in the two months before her murder.

Niall Barry, left, and Joseph Peers, right, were found guilty of murder
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Niall Barry, left, and Joseph Peers, right, were found guilty of murder

Sean Zeisz
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Sean Zeisz

Ms Dale used her phone, recovered an arm’s length from where she was found dead in her back garden, in her final moments to try to call Mr Harrison, who was out with friends while she spent the night at home, watching television in her pyjamas with her dachshund Darla.

The court heard he has since spent time in Dubai.

Read more from Sky News:
Mother of one of four teens found dead describes anguish
Man charged with murder of 27-year-old partner

Witham admitted manslaughter but was found guilty of the more serious charge of murder along with fellow “foot soldier” Peers, who prosecutors said helped to stab the tyres on Ms Dale’s car in a bid to lure the occupants out of the house.

Jurors heard how she messaged Mr Harrison to tell him her car alarm was going off before he replied just over 20 minutes later saying: “Hahahaha you think your in a horror movie.”

“R u okay? Alive.”

At 12.07am, less than half an hour before she was shot, Ms Dale replied: “No I’m dead.”

Ms Dale’s family broke down in tears in court as the trial was shown the final messages before she died.

The court heard Barry and Zeisz organised and encouraged the murder.

In the days following Ms Dale’s murder, Witham and Peers stayed in a hotel in St Helens before travelling to Scotland and Barry was arrested at a golf resort in Formby after making plans to flee the country.

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

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Child dies and another injured after car driven on to sports pitch

A child has died and another has been injured after a car was driven on to a sports pitch in Cumbria.

Police say they were called at 4.58pm to reports of a collision involving a BMW i40 and two children on a pitch at Kendal Rugby Union Football Club on Shap Road, in Kendal.

Cumbria Police say one child died, while the second is being treated by paramedics.

A man aged in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A spokesperson for Cumbria Police said: “Specialist investigators are at the scene and the area has been cordoned off as initial investigation enquiries take place.”

The force said the incident was not believed to be terror-related. Immediate family members of both children have been informed, it added.

In a post on its Facebook page, the club said it was “deeply saddened to confirm that an incident occurred today at Kendal Rugby Club.”

The post, attributed to club chairman Dr Stephen Green, continued: “Our thoughts are with their family and friends and we kindly ask for privacy for all involved at this difficult time.”

The club and its facilities are now temporarily closed while it cooperates “fully” with authorities, it added.

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Tim Farron MP, whose constituency includes Kendal, posted on X: “This is devastating, utterly heartbreaking news. I’m praying for the children and for their families and friends.

“Our community in Kendal is stunned and in mourning.”

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

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PhD student guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China

A man has been convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in London and China between 2019 and 2023.

Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou, 28, filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs”, and kept a trophy box of women’s belongings, jurors in his trial were told.

Warning: This article contains details of sexual offences

He was accused in court of drugging and raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023.

Jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 11 charges of rape against 10 women, including two who have been identified and another eight who have yet to be traced.

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Moment police arrest student guilty of rape

The mechanical engineering student was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offence.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** The trial heard Zou kept a 'lost property box' full of women's belongings. Pic: Met Police
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The trial heard Zou kept a ‘lost property box’ full of women’s belongings. Pic: Met Police

The jury has not reached verdicts on four counts of possession of drugs with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Zou – who first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before moving to London in 2019 – showed no visible reaction as the verdicts were read out in court.

Catherine Farrelly KC, prosecuting, told jurors during the trial that Zou “presents as a smart and charming young man” but is “also a persistent sexual predator; a voyeur and a rapist”.

***ONLY USE IF HE IS CONVICTED OF AT LEAST TWO RAPES*** A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police
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A discreet camera belonging to Zou. Pic: Met Police

Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow Chinese students on WeChat and dating apps, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his flats in London or an unknown location in China, the court heard.

The jury heard how he would secretly film his attacks using a mobile device and hidden cameras, and was shown evidence found on SD cards at his accommodation of him raping unconscious women in London and in China.

Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Saira Pike thanked the “incredibly strong and brave” women who came forward to report his “heinous” crimes.

“Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women,” she said.

“In some instances, we have not been able to identify Zou’s victims. Without knowing who these women are, we have not been able to support them through a deeply distressing period of time.

“We have always been determined to seek justice for both the unidentified and identified victims in this case.”

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who ‘fought for Ukraine’ jailed for 19 years in Russia

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James Scott Rhys Anderson: British man who 'fought for Ukraine' jailed for 19 years in Russia

A British man has been jailed for 19 years after a Russian court found him guilty of fighting for Ukraine in the country’s Kursk region.

James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, had been charged with terrorist and mercenary offences and was found guilty after a closed trial.

The court said he was to serve the first five years of his sentence in prison and the remainder in a penal colony.

In the trial, a Ukrainian soldier from the same unit was questioned as a witness.

Ukrainian troops broke across the border into Kursk region on 6 August last year.

They still hold some territory there seven months later, despite attempts by Russian forces to force them out.

Investigators accused Anderson of illegally crossing into Kursk in November as part of an armed group that committed unspecified “criminal acts against civilians”.

Russian state media published video showing him being led in handcuffs and locked in a cage of the kind where defendants in Russian court cases are placed.

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It apparently showed Anderson saying he had served in the British army from 2019-2023 before deciding to join the foreign legion of Ukraine’s armed forces.

Early on in the war, Ukraine’s authorities said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries came to Ukraine’s aid.

Since then, the number of foreign fighters in Ukraine’s military has been classified.

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