One of Ashley Dale's killers boasted he had "fat bits" and "the best in town" as he flooded North Wales with drugs.
Niall Barry was one of four men who plotted the shooting at her home on Leinster Road in Old Swan in the early hours of August 21 last year. James Witham, Joseph Peers and Sean Zeisz were also unanimously convicted of the 28-year-old council worker's murder following a seven-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Gunman Witham was imprisoned for life with a minimum term of 43 years, and getaway driver Peers was told he must serve at least 41 years behind bars before he will become eligible for release. "Organisers" Barry and Zeisz were also handed life sentences with 47 and 42 year tariffs.
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A trial before the same court in April this year heard further details about the "Kyle Line", the county lines operation which Barry used to supply heroin and crack cocaine in the North Wales area. Alex Langhorn told a jury of four men and eight women during the prosecution's opening that the 26-year-old, of Moscow Drive in Tuebrook, "sat at the head of the conspiracy" and "relied on others" to make deliveries to drug users and man the graft phone.
This device was used to send out "flare messages", or texts advertising that the illicit substances were for sale, on hundreds of occasions. One such example included: "New number, back active.
"Dis number only, fat bits, Kyle/Pete. Don’t ring Debbie."
Another, which was distributed to 165 customers, read: "Active, fat bits. Best in town, drop offs."
A message sent to 183 users meanwhile said: "Active, massive bits. Phone dis."
Jurors also heard of a text saying: "New number, active. Massive bits, straight 10s."
Mr Langhorn described one incident linked to the Kyle Line on the afternoon of June 28 last year., in which a suspected drug dealer was spotted in Rhyl town centre. He sprinted away when approached by police officers, being seen putting his hands to his face a number of times as they gave chase and dropping several bags of white powder.
The man was ultimately wrestled to the ground and ordered to "spit it out" and "open your mouth". When his phone was later analysed, he was found to have the Kyle Line's number saved in his phone as "Twiggy" – Barry's nickname being "Branch" – and had exchanged a number of calls with the graft phone, which "suggested he was most likely a runner for the line".
The Kyle Line graft phone was later recovered from Barry's possession when he was arrested by armed police on suspicion of Ashley's murder late on the evening of August 24 2022 at the Formby Hall Hotel, as was £10,275 in cash. His personal phone and the drugs phone were also found to have both been in contact with eight numbers, including his girlfriend, while cell siting data showed that both devices moved between Liverpool and North Wales together on several occasions.
Barry was also said to have been "directing" Witham, the man who would go on to shoot Ms Dale dead, as part of the operation. Evidence heard in relation to the 41-year-old, of Ashbury Road in Huyton, included him purchasing a top-up card for the graft phone on June 6, while its SIM card was also placed in his personal phone on July 26.
Mr Langhorn described him as the "boots on the ground", adding: "Niall Barry was clearly using that line on the days we have looked at when he was with it, particularly when it sent out those broadcast messages. But more than that, he was also in control of that line – not only when he physically held the handset and the SIM, but when he was directing the activity of others like James Witham."
But the jury ultimately had to be discharged and the trial postponed after Barry submitted an 18-page amendment to his defence statement, in which he explained that his various trips to North Wales were as a result of him and his girlfriend holidaying at a caravan. The charges he faced in relation to this case, of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, were then ordered to lie on the file following his murder conviction.
Detective Chief Inspector Cath Cummings, who led Merseyside Police's investigation into Ashley's murder, said of Barry's drug dealing: "He was quite happy to flood the streets – not only in Merseyside, but more so North Wales and all your seaside resorts – with cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine and heroin. We were able to show that he did have a small cohort that were operating around him.
"It would appear to us that Barry appears to have had some control over individuals. I think what has come out from this investigation is that he has a certain amount of control, that he tasks other people to commit his criminality on his behalf."
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