The event was organised by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell to remember women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence on Merseyside.(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)

Hundreds gather in city centre to remember Liverpool's 'lost' women

by · Liverpool Echo

The names of 74 women and girls who have been murdered since 2009 were read out at the vigil

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Photographs show how hundreds of people braved the cold weather to listen to Ashley Dale's mum as she spoke at a vigil this evening outside Liverpool Crown Court. The event was organised by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, to remember women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence on Merseyside.

74 women and girls, whose names were read out at the candle-lit vigil, have been murdered on Merseyside since 2009. According to Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service (LDAS), between 2022 and 2023, Merseyside was blighted by the worst record of women and girls killed by men in the whole country. Nationwide, a woman was killed by a man on average every three days between 2009 and 2019.

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Ashley was 28 when she was shot dead in her own home in Old Swan by James Witham on August 21, 2022. Witham broke through the locked front door and shot Ashley, who worked as an environmental health officer, with a Skorpion submachine gun. In November last year, Witham, along with his accomplices Niall Barry, Sean Zeisz and Joseph Peers, were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for a combined total of 173 years.

Today, November 25, is also the third anniversary of the murder of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death by a teenage boy in Liverpool city centre as the Christmas lights were switched on.

Ashley's mum Julie Dale told the crowd: "Ashley was caught up in violence that has devastated our lives. It not only took my daughter but my best friend from me. Those life sentences have not made anything better for us. In fact, things are worse now, as I now know the senseless reason why my daughter's life was snatched away from her. We now have the life sentence, living with this every single day."

In her speech, Julie finished with an emotional pledge to continue fighting to stop male violence against women and girls. She said: "This is for you, Ash, Olivia Pratt-Korbell, Ellie Edwards, Ava White and all the women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence. We love you, we miss you and we will not stop fighting in your name.

"There's no place for violence against women in our city. It does and has destroyed and devastated lives. I felt it important to come here tonight and tell our story to give Ashley a voice on this day. To highlight the impact violence has on victims and families who are left to carry on in the aftermath."

  1. Hundreds of people braved the cold weather to listen to Ashley Dale's mum as she spoke at a vigil this evening outside Liverpool Crown Court
    1 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  2. The event was organised by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell, to remember women and girls who have lost their lives to male violence on Merseyside.
    2 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  3. Ashley Dale's mum Julie speaks at the vigil
    3 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  4. The names of the 74 women and girls murdered on Merseyside since 2009 were read out
    4 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  1. Over the past few years, there have been several deeply upsetting cases of women and girls being murdered in Merseyside
    5 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  2. According to Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service (LDAS), between 2022 and 2023, Merseyside was blighted by the worst record of women and girls killed by men in the whole country
    6 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  3. Nationwide, a woman was killed by a man on average every three days between 2009 and 2019
    7 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
  4. Today, November 25, is also the third anniversary of the murder of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death by a teenage boy in Liverpool city centre as the Christmas lights were switched on
    8 of 8(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)