Ashley Dale: Man held over Old Swan shooting death bailed

A man who was arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a woman who was shot in her back garden has been conditionally bailed, police have said.

Ashley Dale, 28, was found by officers in her garden in Old Swan, Liverpool, in the early hours of 21 August.

Merseyside Police said a 27-year-old man, who was also held on suspicion of possessing a firearm, had been bailed.

Another man, aged 25, who was also held on suspicion of murder, was bailed on Tuesday.

Det Ch Insp Cath Cummings said inquiries were continuing "to establish the motive behind this attack and to identify all those involved".

"Although progress is being made, I'd still like to urge anyone with information who has yet to come forward to do so as soon as possible," she added.

Opening her inquest on Tuesday, Liverpool senior coroner Andre Rebello told Gerard Majella Courthouse that the environmental health officer was not believed to have been the intended target of the shooting.

He said the door of Ms Dale's Leinster Road home "had been forced" and she had been found lying unresponsive close to her mobile phone and several bullet casings in her back garden.

He added that until someone was "apprehended" and the process of law was applied to "this most heinous tragedy", her family would "struggle with a very difficult bereavement journey".

A 21-year-old woman, who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, was also bailed on Tuesday.

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