Elle Edwards’ emotional family slam gunman Connor Chapman as he’s jailed for at least 48 years over Xmas Eve murder
ELLE Edwards’ emotional family slammed her killer today as he was jailed for at least 48 years over the Christmas Eve pub shooting.
The beautician, 26, had stepped outside The Lighthouse in Wallasey Village, Merseyside, when the horror unfolded.
Connor Chapman, 23, fired a volley of shots from his military-grade Skorpion sub-machine gun in a tit-for-tat gang war.
He blasted “wholly innocent” Elle twice in the back of the head and injured five others, including the intended targets of the shooting.
The “highly dangerous” killer has now been jailed for life with a minimum of 48 years after being convicted of murder.
There were shouts of “go die lad” and “scumbag” from the public gallery as the sentence was handed down.
Chapman was also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, two of wounding with intent and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
His co-accused Thomas Waring was jailed for nine years after being convicted of possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender.
Jailing Chapman, Mr Justice Goose said the shooting was as “wicked as it was shocking”.
In a victim impact statement, Elle’s dad Tim told how his daughter was the “most caring, beautiful, happy person”.
He added: “I can’t begin to explain the devastating effect this has. The only people who go through such a horrific experience can ever know how it feels.
“I hope the people in this room never have to experience what we are going through now. We have been given a life sentence.
“Whenever we celebrate birthdays, Easter, family celebrations there will always be Elle missing. We know if she was there, it was always going to be a great time full of laughter and cheer.
“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.”
Elle’s mum Gaynor, who was not able to face coming to court, said her health had deteriorated following her daughter’s death.
She said: “I want to know why have you done this? What drove you to do this to my daughter? I can’t accept she’s gone.
“I cannot put into words how much I love and miss her.”
The court also heard from Elle’s brother Connor told how their world “fell apart” when they discovered she had been murdered.
He said he goes to bed “each night and wakes up the next morning with a constant hit of grief”.
Elle had joined friends for an “enjoyable night out” on Christmas Eve last year.
Her sister Lucy told how they had been at another pub when the group decided to make their way back to the Lighthouse.
Elle drove her sister home before re-joining pals at the establishment where she was later shot dead.
Recalling their final conversation, Lucy said: “When I got out the car I told Elle not to be late so not to ruin Christmas. She said she wouldn’t and she’d be about an hour.”
She said she later texted Elle saying: “Hey? Get home,” to which she didn’t respond.
In the morning, Lucy was woken by brother George saying “Elle had been shot”.
Heartbreaking footage showed Elle in the pub just moments before the shooting hugging her friends and laughing.
She had stepped outside for a cigarette unaware of the horror lurking in the car park.
Chapman lay in wait for three hours to target two rival gang members amid a deadly war.
He was captured on CCTV skulking through the darkness with his hood up as he snaked along a brick wall.
After peeking around the corner, Chapman began blindly firing the gun.
The coward then got into a stolen Mercedes and drove away from the bloodbath.
One bullet passed through her skull and brain and exited just above her right eye, while the second travelled into her brain causing “irrecoverable” injuries.
Her death was described as a “human tragedy in its purest and most appalling sense”.
Chapman used a Skorpion sub-machine gun – a Czech firearm designed for the security services and the army – to carry out the brutal attack.
The weapon is so powerful that on fully-automatic mode, it can empty a magazine of 15 bullets quicker than a sneeze.
On the night Elle was killed, the gun was in semi-automatic mode with an initial volley of seven shots fired by the gunman, before a further two shots, a brief pause and then another three shots.
The intended targets of the shooting were actually Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, who were injured in the attack.
Tensions had boiled over following a “history of trouble” between rival groups from the Woodchurch and Ford estates, on either side of the M53 in the Wirral.
Chapman had been served with an injunction in the months before the shooting, aimed at preventing gang-related violence.
This was said to be about as much use as a “chocolate teapot” in deterring the violent criminal.
The day after the horror as the horrifying news began to trickle through, Chapman hatched a plot to cover his tracks.
He drove a stolen Mercedes seen on the night of the shooting to the home of pal and co-defendant Thomas Waring.
The car was later found burnt out in an isolated spot in Frodsham, Cheshire.
Waring, who refused to give evidence during the trial, claims a man who is not naming attended his home on Christmas Eve to borrow the vehicle, which was a “pool car” used by drug dealers.
A single particle of gunshot residue was found on the back of a red glove seized at his home.
Chillingly, just four days after the shooting, Chapman posted a message on Facebook calling for calm in the community.
He also posted a rap video while he was in custody awaiting trial for Elle’s murder after his mum’s home was burgled.
The lyrics read: “I promised her one thing, they’re never touching her again. Repercussions, bigger actions, off with his head.
“I’ll p**s on her grave and fix her cascade up with shells. I’ll pull up to your funeral, let off on all your friends.
“I’m proud of that s**t. Since I was 16 I’ve had more racks than your age.”
But during his evidence, the criminal attempted to paint himself as a changed man and doting dad after spending his youth in and out of prison.
Chapman has a string of convictions ranging from burglary, driving offences and shoplifting to possession of a weapon, car theft and assault.
The killer has appeared in court on 20 separate occasions for a total of 45 offences, including his first conviction when he was 14.
He denied he was part of an “organised crime group” and instead claimed he was a cocaine dealer at a “very, very low level”.
On the night Elle was murdered, the gunman insisted he was at home all evening wrapping presents for Christmas.
He claimed a man had made arrangements to use the Mercedes that night as he sought to cover his tracks.
Chapman was arrested on January 10 in a Tesco in Newtown in Wales as he prepared to head for a “romantic” four-day trip to Penllwyn Lodges with his girlfriend.
Dramatic footage showed him being bundled to the ground by officers near the checkout.
While he was being held in custody, the callous killer remarked he was “not fussed” about being arrested for murder but more about newspapers “naming and shaming” him.
Chapman previously pleaded guilty to possession of a sub-machine gun and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Paul Grounds said: “Chapman has continued to deny his involvement in Elle’s death forcing her family to endure the ordeal of a trial where they have had to relive over and over the last moments of her life.
“His cowardly actions on that night rightly shocked the whole of Merseyside and the UK. To fire at his intended targets while they were stood outside in a crowd shows the arrogance and contempt he had for anyone else.
“He then tried to evade justice by taking himself off to Wales where he was eventually detained two weeks after Elle’s murder.
“He has continued to deny his guilt throughout the trial but the jury has seen through his lies and righty convicted him.
“I am pleased that we have secured justice for Elle and her family and that a dangerous man has been removed from the streets of Merseyside.
“I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Elle’s family who throughout this whole investigation and the trial have remained dignified and composed despite being forced to relive the horrific events of Christmas Eve.
“I hope that now they can start to properly grieve their loss.”