These are the latest ECHO headlines this morning.
Ashley Dale to be laid to rest in funeral at Liverpool Cathedral today
Ashley Dale will be laid to rest in a service at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on Tuesday (September 20).
The 28-year-old died after a gunman forced open the front door of her house in Leinster Road, Old Swan, in the early hours of Sunday, August 21, and fired multiple shots "indiscriminately". Merseyside Police attended after being called by concerned neighbours who heard shots fired and saw a woman lying on the ground in the property's back yard.
Miss Dale was pronounced dead a short while later. The fatal shooting came five days after the death of Sam Rimmer in Dingle and less than 24 hours before the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Dovecot.
READ MORE: Merseyside town suffering from an 'identity crisis'
Her funeral will take place at the Anglican Cathedral, beginning at midday. It will be followed by a private cremation.
It has been organised by Desmond L. Bannon & Sons Family Funeral Directors, who wrote in a note: "It is with great sadness that the family of the late Ashley Dale have asked us to announce her passing.
"Please feel free to share. Ashley is going to be sadly missed and remembered by all her family and friends. The funeral service is to take place on Tuesday, September 20 2022 at The Anglican Cathedral." Read more here.
Family 'terrified' in own home as it's 'overrun' with rats and mice
A family has been left "hysterical" as their home has become overrun with rats and mice.
Patricia Barnes, 57, of Borough Road, Birkenhead, said she has been dealing with a pest problem for five years now, though, according to the mum-of-one, in "the last few weeks" the problem has become so "unbearable" that family have stopped visiting their home. Patricia, who moved to the area from Portsmouth 22 years ago, is also "terrified" that her autistic daughter, 22, will get bitten or worse by the rodents.
The mum-of-one said the problem started years ago when work began on a nearby empty plot of land. Patricia believes a nest or makeshift home was disturbed, causing the rats and mice once dwelling there to find a new home: in the row of houses in which she lives. Patricia said the problem wasn't as severe initially, though it has now become serious, with "seven rats caught in the last few days."
READ MORE: Mum who didn't know she was pregnant left fighting for life
Patricia, who acts as a full-time carer for her bed-bound mum, told the ECHO: "In the last few weeks it's gotten so much worse.
"My daughter is terrified through the whole night every night, disturbing every neighbour on our road. I'm now scared stiff that she'll pick one up.
"She's severely autistic. Yesterday, as I dressed her inside her coat pocket there were two live mice." Read the full story here.
House breakers, chancers and 'professional' burglary crews - Inside Operation Castle
In 2019, a sharp spike in burglaries across Liverpool, Lancashire and Manchester became an increasingly urgent headache for detectives across the North West.
A well-organised and professional crew, targeting mainly high-powered vehicles and not afraid to use weapons, had racked up a staggering number of offences - around 160 it later emerged. However, a then relatively recent change in the way Merseyside Police approach burglary meant the crew had met their match.
Almost every single working day, Detective Inspector Tony O'Brien and his team think about burglars. The 30 year policing veteran is the head of Merseyside Police's Operation Castle, a unit dedicated to tackling organised crime gangs or prolific offenders who ransack homes to make money. The unit has been a demonstrable success, with reported burglaries dropping year on year to 55% below where they were when Operation Castle was launched in 2018 and 600 years of jail time handed out to burglars.
READ MORE: Teen's legacy as mum vows to help other families affected by violence
In fact, the work of DI O'Brien has proved so successful teams from neighbouring forces including, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Cheshire Constabulary, have paid his officers visits to learn their methods.
The work of the unit is largely based on two core elements, analysing data and sharing intelligence. Both of those things were key in one of their largest, most complex but also most successful investigations that eventually took down that crew - Operation Awakening.
Read the full story here.
