Gunman jailed for life over Christmas Eve pub murder of beautician

The cowardly gunman who murdered a beautician when he opened fire outside a Merseyside pub on Christmas Eve has been jailed for at least 48 years.

Connor Chapman, 23, was aiming at rivals when he sprayed 12 bullets from a Skorpion sub machine-gun outside the Lighthouse pub in Wirral, shortly before midnight on December 24.

Elle Edwards, 26, described in court as a ‘wholly innocent’ bystander, was killed and five others – including intended targets Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld – were wounded.

Chapman, a petty criminal turned ruthless gangland killer, was convicted of murder and seven other charges relating to the revenge shooting following a three-and-a-half week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

The judge, Mr Justice Goose, imposed three life sentences on Friday, with one of the longest minimum terms ever handed down in a UK court.

He said Chapman’s case was on the cusp of meriting a whole life tariff.

Mr Justice Goose told Chapman: ‘You carefully planned a revenge attack in gang rivalry. You had no thought at all for anyone else, least of all to innocent people.

‘The risk of all six being murdered by you was as substantial as it was obvious, but you didn’t care.’

Members of Elle’s family shouted ‘goodbye lad’, ‘scumbag’ and ‘rat’ as Chapman was taken down from the dock.

Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, whose house Chapman went to following the shooting, was convicted of possession of a prohibited firearm and assisting an offender, by helping to burn out the Mercedes.

He was jailed for nine years.

Speaking outside court after the verdicts on Thursday, Elle’s dad Tim Edwards said: ‘Those two cowards in there decided to drag it out for four weeks, put all these people through that and everyone else around it, involved in the case.

‘I hope them two never see another Christmas again ever in their lives.’

In a victim impact statement read out in court, he said Elle was ‘the most caring, beautiful, happy person’.

‘We will always wonder what her children would be like, what her career would turn out like. We will never know. We never asked for this punishment,’ he added.

‘Christmas will never be celebrated. Gone is the time of Christmas as a time to be together. We will never all be together.’

Susan Edwards, Elle’s grandmother, described her as ‘caring, beyond kind, beyond generous and loving’, adding: ‘If I were to die tomorrow, the coroner would write on my death certificate: Cause of death, a broken heart. I miss my angel so much it hurts.’

The trial heard the attack was the culmination of a feud between groups on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates, on either side of the M53 in Wirral.

The prosecution alleged Chapman was attempting to kill Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, both of whom were seriously injured in the shooting.

The pair, from the Beechwood estate, had attacked another man, Sam Searson, in the street the day before, the court heard.

Three other men: Harry Loughran, Liam Carr and Nicholas Speed; who were unconnected to the feud, were also injured in the shooting.

The jury heard Chapman lay in wait outside the pub in a stolen Mercedes for almost three hours before firing the weapon, which the court heard was capable of firing 15 rounds a second.

Nigel Power KC, prosecuting, read out Merseyside Police figures relating to firearms.

He said there were 49 occasions when firearms were discharged in Merseyside last year, including nine on the Wirral, and five which ended in fatality – including Ms Edwards.

‘During that period of time sub-machine guns have become a weapon of choice for organised crime groups in the region, including the Ford and Woodchurch organised crime groups,’ Mr Power said.

‘Skorpion sub-machine gunes were used to murder three people last year. Since arrest of this defendant there have been no firearms discharges on the Wirral.’

Pointing to Chapman’s 48-year minimum term, Mr Edwards told reporters outside court other criminals thinking of picking up a gun should now ‘think twice’.

Senior investigating officer in the case, Detective Superintendent Paul Grounds, described Chapman as a ‘dangerous and ruthless individual’.

He said: ‘Connor Chapman knew exactly what he was doing when he left his home address on December 24, getting in a stolen car in possession of a Skorpion machine pistol.

‘He drove to the Lighthouse pub where he spent a number of hours there before finding a car parking space that gave him a real clear view of who was outside.

‘He then left his car with no regard for anybody else, intent on firing that gun at his intended targets, Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, with not a care of what would happen to anybody else who was stood outside of the pub.’

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