Ashley Dale's mother says she is 'more angry' with her daughter's 'despicable' boyfriend than her killers

20 November 2023, 21:12 | Updated: 20 November 2023, 21:20

Left to right: Ashley Dales' sister, mother Julie Dale and stepfather Rob Jones arriving at Liverpool Crown Court for the trial of four men who are charged with the murder of the 28-year-old. Picture date: Monday October 2, 2023.
Left to right: Ashley Dales' sister, mother Julie Dale and stepfather Rob Jones arriving at Liverpool Crown Court for the trial of four men who are charged with the murder of the 28-year-old. Picture date: Monday October 2, 2023. Picture: Alamy

By Christian Oliver

The mother of a woman who was shot at her own home has said she is more angry at her daughter's "despicable" boyfriend that the killers were targeting than the murderers themselves.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Ashley Dale's family today said she "fell in love with the wrong boy" as her mother Julie Dale stressed how "very, very angry" she was at the partner following her death.

Niall Barry, 26, Sean Zeisz, 28, James Witham, 41, and Joseph Peers, 29, were all found guilty of murder of Ms Dale's murder today.

Ms Dale was killed amid a feud with involving her partner Lee Harrison, 26, who the court heard was associated with an organised crime group in Huyton, Liverpool.

Harrison had been in a relationship with Ms Dale for around five years prior to her death in August earlier this year.

She said: "Some days I feel like I'm more angry towards him than I am to the person who's actually killed Ashley because without Lee Harrison this wouldn't have happened."

She added: "The way he's acted since this has happened has been absolutely despicable.

"We've had no remorse from him. We've had no support from him. We have no admittance that it's anything to do with him.

"He's given us any number of reasons of what he's heard it's to do with and none of them include him.

"He still carries on going about his life, leaving the country, going on holidays, lording it up, shall we say, like nothing's happened and nothing's changed for him and it's absolutely disgusting, it really is."

Undated family handout file photo issued by Merseyside Police of Ashley Dale, 28, who worked in the environmental health team at Knowsley Council
Undated family handout file photo issued by Merseyside Police of Ashley Dale, 28, who worked in the environmental health team at Knowsley Council. Picture: Alamy

Read More: 'I'm always looking over my shoulder': Ashley Dale's chilling final voice notes help get four men convicted of murder

Read More: Four men found guilty of murdering Ashley Dale after she was shot dead with a Skorpion sub-machine gun in Liverpool

During the trial, the court heard since his girlfriend's death Harrison had been "totally unco-operative" with police, and had been to Dubai on several occasions.

Ms Dale's stepfather Rob Jones said: "The problem we keep coming back to is Ashley fell in love with the wrong boy.

"I'm not saying for one minute Ashley did not love him, I'm saying he doesn't love her, clearly, by actions."

Julie Dale said her daughter was "career driven" and excited about starting a promotion as an environmental health officer at Knowsley Council.

She said sitting through the trial, which lasted more than six weeks, had been harder than she expected.

"I thought, in the early days, with some of the things that we had to do - planning a funeral and some really horrific things that we had to do in the beginning, I thought nothing can top them, nothing can get any worse," she said.

"But, sitting in court having the defendants there and seeing them and then listening and seeing the horrific details of what happened to her and how she was just basically just left on her own to die. It's horrendous."

During the trial the court was shown photos of Ms Dale and Harrison with some of the defendants.

Witham, who admitted firing the shot which killed Ms Dale, was seen in one undated picture making a peace sign as he posed with Ms Dale and Harrison.

Julie Dale said: "The difficult thing is, most of the defendants, pretty much all of them, knew Ashley and have known her on a friendly basis.

"Never mind to do what they did, but then to get up and lie about it and talk about her. Hearing them mention her name just makes me so angry."

Speaking to anyone involved in gun crime, she added: "Just think about how it affects so many people.

"We're broken, our life is never, ever going to be the same ever again."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Owen Cooper is reportedly the youngest actor to have been nominated for the award

Teen star Owen Cooper leads British Emmy charge as 'Adolescence' scores 13 nominations

Ministers are seeking to avoid a repeat of last summer's violent anti-immigration protests, which lasted six days

Fears of riots after secret Afghan resettlement scheme exposed following MoD data breach

Physician associates (PAs) should be banned from seeing patients who have not been reviewed by a medic to prevent the risk of "catastrophic" misdiagnoses, a Government-ordered report has found.

PAs should stop being used as substitutes for doctors to prevent ‘catastrophic’ misdiagnoses, report finds

Nurse Sandie Peggie's employment tribunal resumes today.

Changing room row tribunal set to resume

Yoga, tai chi, jogging and walking could be the best forms of exercise to help tackle the sleep disorder insomnia, a study suggests.

Suffering from insomnia? Try yoga, tai chi or jogging, new study suggests

Bradley Murdoch, the killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio has died after being moved to palliative care last month.

Bradley Murdoch, Australian killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, dies aged 67

The TV chef, 59, broke his silence on Tuesday night after the show's producers Banijay UK confirmed his contract will not be renewed.

John Torode breaks silence after being axed from MasterChef over racism claim

Last week, Dylan Earl, aged 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, became the first people to be convicted under new National Security Act powers after they were recruited by the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Teenagers targeted by Russia and Iran for sabotage missions in Britain as state-backed threats increase five-fold

Exclusive
The Conservative leader made the declaration after it was revealed that the government spent nearly two years using an unprecedented superinjunction to prevent the public from learning about the breach.

Ministers must have power to sack civil servants after 'extraordinary' MoD data breach, Badenoch tells LBC

Exclusive
Penny Mordaunt spoke with Andrew Marr about the MoD data breach.

The person responsible for the MoD data breach should lose their job, Penny Mordaunt tells LBC

Exclusive
Defence Secretary John Healey refuses to say whether anyone has lost their job over the Ministry of Defence data breach.

Nobody has been fired over £7 billion Afghan data breach, LBC understands

Exclusive
A former Afghan interpreter told LBC that the Taliban may have used the major Ministry of Defence (MoD) data breach to target Britain's allies.

Taliban has used major data breach at MoD to target those who helped Britain, says former Afghan interpreter

People search for their belongings amid the debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, on July 15, 2025.

Israeli strikes kill more than 90 Palestinians overnight, including 19 members of the same family

Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi, who came to the UK in 1999 and founded the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA) to help others, said the Government must “accept full responsibility (and) offer meaningful compensation” to those affected.

MoD data breach has 'endangered lives' and 'betrayed' thousands of Afghans, says campaign group

MasterChef presenter John Torode will not return to the BBC cooking show after producers Banijay UK confirmed his contract will not be renewed.

MasterChef star John Torode sacked - after allegation he used 'racist language' upheld in Gregg Wallace report

Keely Hodgkinson runs at the London Athletics Meet in 2024

Keely Hodgkinson out of London Diamond League