A man accused of being a “key organiser” in the fatal shooting of Ashley Dale tried to flee the country using a “fixer” named ‘Gus’, a jury has been told. Council worker Ashley, 28, died in her Liverpool home in the early hours of August 21 last year.
The jury were told that Witham has admitted manslaughter but denies murder, claiming he only meant to "send a message" to Harrison, and did not see or hear Ashley when he fired the gun. The prosecution case is that Witham and co-accused Joseph Peers, 28, were "dispatched" to assassinate Mr Harrison and "leave no witnesses".
Mr Greaney said: "The only sensible conclusion on the evidence is that Niall Barry made plans to leave the country. In the course of the trial, we will invite you to consider why Niall Barry made these plans. His plans, if they had been successful, would inevitably have disrupted his life in Liverpool.
Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Mr Greaney said early on August 23, Gus the fixer had put the plan in place. At 5.43am, he messaged Barry, saying: "Have info today what's what bro". The last contact detectives were able to find between the two men was a message sent early the following morning, when Barry told Gus: "Ok son nice 1 thank u".
"The only sensible conclusion is that Niall Barry was intent upon a final night at a smart hotel with his girlfriend before he left the country. Why was he fleeing the jurisdiction? The answer, the prosecution suggests, is because he was seeking to avoid the consequences of his knowing involvement in these awful crimes."