Daniel Dale

Daniel Dale was shot in the back in Keele Close, Collyhurst.

He was found in an alleyway off of Farnborough Road.

It was said that the shooting was related to gang rivalry but also said that Daniel Dale was not involved with gangs, crime or drugs.

A man was convicted of his murder in 2002 but later, in 2014, his conviction was quashed after new forensic evidence was presented. The judge said that expert evidence might reasonably have affected the decision of the jury and his conviction was quashed.

He was killed the day after a murder trial that he was due to give evidence in finished. Daniel Dale had been due to give evidence in court regarding the death of a friend who was stabbed to death in Cheetham Hill but the person on trial pleaded guilty to the crime and Daniel Dale was not called. It was thought however that his murder was not associated with the trial.

He had been talking to friends in Keele Close when he was shot in the back after a gunman fired into the group indiscriminately. The shot went through his heart and he died.

A Walther PPK self-loading pistol, said to have been the weapon used, was later found at the house of one of the men tried along with the man convicted.

The man that was initially convicted of Daniel Dale's murder was convicted in part due to particles found on a black Henri Lloyd hooded jacket found at his home under the stairs which were said to have been gunshot residue. It was said that the residue supported the assertion that he had been the gunman. However, some students who were studying the case stated that forensic analysis had improved since 2012 and that by using the latest techniques the evidence offered in the 2002 trial would not have been valid in a 2014 trial and as such the evidence had no value and his conviction was quashed. It was stated that what had been determined as gunshot residue in 2002 could well have been powder from a firework.

It was noted that in 2006 the Forensic Science Service issued new guidelines on the assessment, interpretation and reporting of firearms chemistry cases under which the amount of residue found on the black Henri Lloyd hooded jacket were so small that they could not be considered to have evidential value.

It was also said that the witness identification of the man who was convicted was weak and that the jury might have found that the gunshot residue forensic evidence was enough to support the prosecution’s case and to return a guilty verdict. The case had also relied on voice identification evidence which was also considered questionable.

After his release from prison, the released man said, 'I partly feel responsible because it was my group of friends that was actually responsible for his murder.'.

The man tried for the murder of Daniel Dale had been tried alongside three other people, including his brother. One of the men tried had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition without a certificate, and assisting offenders and then gave evidence for the prosecution. Also, during the trial, one of the other men tried changed his plea and pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. The third man was convicted of wounding with intent although his conviction was later quashed, and he was sentenced for possessing a firearm with intent.