Innocent woman killed when shots fired outside pub on Christmas Eve, court told

Elle Edwards was killed outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

The father of Elle Edwards, Tim Edwards, arrives with family members at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in Liverpool (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

An innocent woman was killed when a gunman fired 12 shots outside a pub on Christmas Eve in the culmination of a feud between rival groups, a court has heard.

The family of Elle Edwards, 26, watched in court on Tuesday as graphic CCTV footage was played showing the moment the gunman fired the Skorpion sub-machine gun at a group of people outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, Merseyside, shortly before midnight on Christmas Eve last year.

Connor Chapman, 23, is accused of carrying out the murder following a “history of trouble” between rival groups in the Woodchurch estate and the Ford estate, located on opposite sides of the M53 motorway in Wirral.

Opening the trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, Nigel Power KC, prosecuting, said the intended targets of the shooting were Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld.

He added: “Although they were injured, Elle Edwards, a wholly innocent bystander, was killed by two bullets which entered the back of the left side of her head.”

CCTV showed the gunman, who drove a stolen Mercedes A Class car to and from the scene, waiting in the area for three hours before opening fire, killing Ms Edwards, who could be seen collapsing on top of Mr Salkeld.

Three other bystanders, Harry Loughran, Liam Carr and Nicholas Speed, were injured as the attacker fired 12 shots from the weapon, which has never been recovered, the court heard.

Mr Power told the jury that after the shooting Chapman drove to the home of his friend and co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, in Barnston, Wirral.

The jury heard there had been a series of events in the run-up to Ms Edwards’s murder, such as injunctions preventing Chapman associating with named individuals, including Mr Duffy and Mr Salkeld, as well as a burglary in November and two shootings in December.

The day before the shooting, on December 23, Mr Duffy and Mr Salkeld, from the Ford estate, assaulted Sam Searson, from the Woodchurch estate, the court was told.

Mr Power said: “What we say it shows is that what otherwise might have been viewed as a random or inexplicable shooting of a wholly innocent woman, Elle Edwards, was in fact the culmination of an ongoing feud between people from, on the one hand, the Woodchurch estate, and on the other hand, from the Ford Estate, which included Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, who were the intended victims of the shooting.”

The jury was told Chapman, who wore a white shirt and grey tie with his hair tied back, accepted he was involved in disposing of the stolen Mercedes, which was burnt out at a “remote location” in Frodsham, Cheshire, on New Year’s Eve.

Mr Power said the defendant claimed he had been at home on the evening of the shooting, and someone came to his house, on Houghton Road, Woodchurch, to collect the key to the car and three bags of cocaine.

He told the jury DNA evidence from a bullet casing found at the scene was “hugely significant”, providing a strong support linking Chapman to the discharged bullet.

Chapman denies the murder of Ms Edwards, two counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He also denies possession of a Skorpion sub-machine gun with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Waring, of Private Drive, Barnston, Wirral, denies possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping Chapman to dispose of the car.

The trial will continue on Wednesday.