Ashley Dale: 4 found guilty of killing UK council worker shot dead in her garden

The 28-year-old died after being found with a gunshot wound in the garden of her home in Liverpool in the early hours of August last year.

A jury heard the intended target of the shooting was her boyfriend Lee Harrison – described in court as a drug dealer who was in a feud with a rival gang.

However, he wasn’t at the property at the time of the attack.

James Witham, 41, Joseph Peers, 29, Niall Barry, 26, and Sean Zeisz, 28, were found guilty of murdering Ms Dale and conspiring to murder Harrison.

Ian Fitzgibbon was cleared of the charges.

The court heard a gunman fired eight bullets from a sub-machine gun towards Ms Dale and two at the ground – believed to be towards her dog.

He then went upstairs to a bedroom and fired five bullets into a wall “to send a firm message to Lee Harrison”, the prosecution said.

Despite being the principal target and losing his girlfriend, Harrison did not help the police investigation.

The feud that led to the murder reignited after a row at Glastonbury Festival earlier in the summer, the trial was told.