Ian Fitzgibbon denied deliberately 'increasing the tension'
One of the men accused of directing the attempted hit which claimed the life of Ashley Dale denied "stirring the pot" and "increasing tension" before her death.
The prosecution case is that Witham and Joseph Peers, 29, were "dispatched" to kill Harrison by Barry, 26; his friend Sean Zeisz, 28, and Fitzgibbon, who were allegedly directing the hit from the flat. All five men deny murdering Ashley and conspiracy to murder Harrison and are standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Fitzgibbon said he "warned" Harrison about the threat, but also claimed he was still on friendly terms with Barry, and spent most of the day of August 20 getting stoned at the Pilch Lane flat with Barry, Witham, Zeisz and Peers. Ms Appleton said: “We know of the fallout regarding Mr Harrison and Mr Barry years before. Did you contribute to that fallout?". Fitzgibbon replied: “I told Lee he was getting bumped by Barry, yeah."
Fitzgibbon replied: “No, he shouldn’t have pulled out a knife on me." Ms Appleton referred to another message sent by Ashley, describing how Fitzgibbon had "offered Lee a blade" at Glastonbury when warning him about Barry's threat. Fitzgibbon said: “I’m not part of any group or what people have going on. He never done nothing to Lee." Ms Appleton said: "You were trying to convince both sides that you were their friend."The prosecution case is that the old dispute between Barry and Harrison flared up during the summer of last year due to a series of incidents, including an alleged assault on Zeisz, by Harrison's friend Jordan Thompson, at Glastonbury festival.
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