Hundreds of ashen faced mourners filed solemnly into the cavernous hall of Liverpool Cathedral this afternoon to pay their final respects to Ashley Dale.
For the second time in the space of five days, a family buried a young, vibrant person whose bright future was snatched away by a man with a gun. Ashley at 28 may have seen more of life than nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, but her death in Leinster Road, Old Swan, on August 21 was also unnatural, appalling and devastating.
In a private service, the family remembered a driven, successful and adored young woman who loved animals and wanted to "make a difference" to her city. Speaking after the service, the acting Bishop of Liverpool and Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Revd Beverly Mason, told the ECHO Ashley's family wanted her not to be forgotten and to be remembered for who she was, rather than just as a victim of an devastating crime.
