Ashley Dale "made clear the threat came from one place" in voice notes sent to her friends before her death, a jury heard.
Ashley died aged 28 after being shot in the abdomen and collapsing in her back yard on Leinster Road in Old Swan shortly after midnight on August 21 last year. Five men are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of her murder.
James Witham has admitted barging down the door of her house, where she was spending the evening alone with her dachshund Darla, and spraying the property with bullets from a Skorpion submachine gun. The 41-year-old claims he did not see or hear Ashley inside and was instead attempting to "send a message" to her boyfriend Lee Harrison, who was not present at the time.
Jurors heard the final pieces of evidence yesterday afternoon, Thursday, before Paul Greaney KC began his closing speech for the prosecution. Mr Greaney told the court a feud between Harrison and Niall Barry was "reignited" by events at Glastonbury Festival before being "turbocharged" by the death of Rikki Warnick.
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This, he said, "led to an attack on 40 Leinster Road, intended to kill Lee Harrison and leave behind no one who stood in the way of that plot". Mr Greaney added that Witham's version of events was "nonsense of the highest order", referring to a picture showing him "grinning" in the company of Ms Dale and Harrison at Glastonbury 2019, while apparently in the midst of their feud.
He also highlighted the messages and voice notes found on Ashley's phone, which spoke of issues between her partner and Barry – also known as "Branch" – rather than the gunman.
The jury were told: "She predicted an awful outcome from that major beef. And Ashley was right that there would be an awful outcome, even if she did not identify that she would be the victim.
"Those words of hers you have heard, her voice from beyond the grave, speak about the truth of what caused her death. What she was speaking about, what she was troubled about, what she was fearful of, what she thought was going to have a bad outcome was not James Witham – it was a dispute involving Branch.
“The account Ashley gives is consistent and entirely coherent. Will they maintain Ashley was lying to her friends about where the threat was coming from, that it was coming from Niall Barry when it was coming from James Witham? If that suggestion is made you should reject it out of hand.
"You’ve heard Ashley’s own voice. You can make your own judgement about the anxiety and fear she expresses. Clearly she feared Niall Barry was going to cause serious harm to Lee Harrison. Why would she have lied? Any idea that she would is plainly nonsense.
"Ashley made clear the threat came from once place, Niall Barry and his organised crime group. How can she possibly have been mistaken about that?"
Mr Greaney also pointed towards the defence statements of the accused, with one submitted by Witham in August this year having initially denied any involvement in the incident. He said: "In considering whether the defendants’ account that the attack on 40 Leinster Road was down to a dispute between James Witham and Lee Harrison, please bear in mind that that account is entirely dependent on evidence from the defendants, and in particular James Witham.
"It is dependant on the truthfulness of what they say. James Witham is demonstrated to be a liar on a staggering scale.
"He submitted a defence statement to the court that was jam packed full of lies. The truth is that he only accepted that he was the gunman when the evidence left him with no choice but to do so."
Witham, of Ashbury Road in Huyton, Zeisz, of Longreach Road in Huyton, 26-year-old Barry, of Moscow Drive in Tuebrook, 29-year-old Peers, of Woodlands Road in Roby, and 28-year-old Fitzgibbon, of Heigham Gardens in St Helens, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Ashley Dale, conspiracy to murder Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, namely a Skorpion submachine gun, and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Witham has admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter.
A sixth defendant – 26-year-old Kallum Radford, of Trentham Road in Kirkby – denies assisting an offender. The trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
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