Helen Archer | On 27, Aug 2024



In August 2022, Liverpool – and the UK at large – was shocked by two gun murders, in the same area, within two days of each other. Ashley Dale was shot to death in her own home by a gunman who broke the door in and fired numerous rounds from a Skorpion machine gun. Less than 48 hours later, 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was, too, shot in her own house, after her mother heard a disturbance outside and opened the door to try to help, only to have the gunman – who was chasing his intended victim – fire bullets inside the home. One pierced the wrist of her mum and mortally wounded Olivia.

Aired on four consecutive nights, this series takes us from beginning to end of the two murder investigations. Though separate, they are woven seamlessly together, connected by geography, gun crime, OCGs and grieving families. Told through a mixture of police bodycams, CCTV footage, up-close-and-personal filming within police stations (at one point one of the accused threatens a cameraman), armed raids, police interview tapes, progress meetings and interviews with those affected, the access and scope is extraordinary.

The viewer is thrown straight into the first murder scene, via the bodycam footage of the initial responders at 28-year-old Ashley’s residence, where they find her in the courtyard outside her back door, large bullet holes dotted throughout the house, and her dog cowering nervously upstairs. Her phone is dissected for clues, starting from the night of the murder, during which time she sent many texts to her boyfriend, Lee, describing her anxiety and her dog’s distress in the hours leading up to the murder, culminating with her last text to him and his response – “are you dead”. Later, her historic texts and voice notes will provide police with vital information which will eventually lead to the apprehension of her killer.

While Ashley’s mum Julie speaks about the impact her death has on her, Olivia’s mum Cheryl becomes the voice of her child. The bodycam footage of the night of her murder includes police running with Olivia’s small body into the back of a police car to rush her to hospital, applying pressure to her wound and begging her to hold on. To call it harrowing is an understatement, though it provides a framing for the way in which the murder affected the entire community. Cheryl – with her wrist still bandaged from the gunshot wound she received – displays considerable strength, as she gives testimony to police about the daughter’s sweet, talkative nature, which is later shown to a suspect as he is interviewed, in a bid to appeal to his conscience.

What investigators come up against during the course of their inquiries is both the disdain for ‘grass culture’ – the idea that helping police is taboo – mixed with the genuine fear people have of repercussions. It is not an unreasonable fear, given the kind of criminal gangs they are dealing with, the grip they have on the community, and how little they value human life. Friends and allies make short videos exhorting people to speak out, while graffiti – ‘child killer time to say sorry’ – emerges around the city. In the end, people do come forward, even though it means possible reprisals and even prison time for doing so – such is the nature of the crime committed, it appalled even hardened criminals.

It is a riveting series, and though much of the running time is taken up with the investigation, the victims remain at the forefront. Ashley’s voice is heard on the notes she left her friends, detailing her fears, and both she and Olivia are present throughout, in both video footage and in the testimonials of those who knew and loved them. They overshadow the blank nonentities who are filmed in police interviews replying ‘no comment’ to each question posed to them, making this series a fitting tribute to their young lives, cut short.

Merseyside Detectives is available on Channel 4.

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