Ashley Dale killers made £2m from crime, court hears

Two of the killers of 28-year-old Ashley Dale made more than £2m from crime but have only been ordered to pay back £1 each.

Ms Dale, an environmental health worker, was killed when gunman James Witham, 42, forced his way into her home in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of 21 August 2022 and opened fire with a Skorpion submachine gun.

Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were convicted of her murder last November, with Barry and Zeisz also being convicted of further crimes.

In a proceeds of crime application hearing, Judge Denis Watson KC found Barry had benefited from drug and weapons offences by £1,580,800 and Zeisz had made £686,350 from drug offences.

In both cases, the court found there were no available assets to seize so a confiscation order for the nominal amount of £1 was made.

An order for a nominal amount can be increased following reviews of a defendant's financial circumstances.

An order was also made to deprive Barry, who was sentenced to life with a minimum of 47 years, of any interest in the Hyundai i30 used in the murder.

Alex Langhorn, prosecuting, said: "By the findings of the jury in that case, he clearly had control of it."

Barry told the court: "It wasn't mine."

He was not represented by counsel after barrister Katy Appleton told the court she was withdrawing due to "professional embarrassment".

His mother was told to sit down during the hearing after she stood up in the public gallery and gestured towards her son in the dock.

The court heard a crypto currency account with "54,904 coins in" was found on a laptop in the house of his partner Lucy Worley.

But, after taking instructions, Mr Langhorn said the laptop was found under the bed in her father's room.

He said: "The police are going to deal with by way of asset forfeiture in the lower court."

Zeisz, who was dealt with earlier in the day, was sentenced last year to life with a minimum of 42 years for actively encouraging the shooting.

The trial heard Ms Dale's murder happened after a drug feud between Barry and her partner Lee Harrison, which was "re-ignited" at the Glastonbury festival in June 2022.

Gunman Witham was sentenced to a minimum of 43 years and Joseph Peers, 29, was jailed for at least 41 years for driving him to the scene of the murder.

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