Heartbroken family of Elle Edwards shout ‘see you later, scumbag’ at killer as he is led to the cells after being sentenced to 48 years in prison for opening fire on pub with a sub-machine gun on Christmas Eve
- Connor Chapman, 23, killed Elle Edwards, 26, on the Wirral, Merseyside
- He fired 12 shots with Skorpion sub-machine gun outside pub last year
A drug dealer who killed an innocent beautician when he opened fire with a sub-machine gun outside a pub was today shouted at by her heartbroken family as he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 48 years.
Connor Chapman, 23, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon after his conviction yesterday for the murder of Elle Edwards, 26, who was killed outside The Lighthouse in Wallasey on the Wirral, Merseyside, on Christmas Eve last year.
Chapman – whom the judge branded a ‘highly dangerous man’ – injured five other people, including his targets Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, when he fired 12 shots from the Skorpion gun before driving away from the scene in a stolen Mercedes.
After he was jailed, there was an outburst of shouting from the public gallery as Miss Edwards’s relatives said ‘goodbye lad’, ‘see you later’, ‘scumbag’ and ‘f***ing rat’.
In victim impact statements, Miss Edwards’s father Tim Edwards described her as ‘the most caring, beautiful, happy person’, while her mother Gaynor – who could not face coming to court, said: ‘I cannot put into words how much I love and miss her.’
Mr Justice Goose told Chapman he was a ‘highly dangerous man’, adding that the murder had caused ‘profound and permanent grief’ to Miss Edwards’s family.
The sentencing hearing was told Chapman is a prolific criminal, having appeared in court 20 times for a total of 45 offences since his first conviction in 2014 aged 14.
The court also heard today that his brother Lewis Chapman was shot with a different Skorpion gun last August, but ‘refused to assist or cooperate with the police’.
Elle Edwards, 26, was killed outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village in Merseyside
Connor Chapman, 23, opened fire with a Skorpion sub-machine gun outside the pub last year
Tim Edwards, father of Elle Edwards, arrives at Liverpool Crown Court for the sentencing today
Tim Edwards arrives at Liverpool Crown Court for today’s sentencing of his daughter’s killer
Family members of Elle Edwards arrive at Liverpool Crown Court for today’s sentencing
Mr Edwards also said his daughter had been ‘looking forward to Christmas Day with her family’ on the night she was murdered, but ‘that will never happen again’.
‘Most caring, beautiful, happy person’: Father pays tribute to his daughter who ‘always gave the best hugs’
This is the full victim impact statement from Tim Edwards, father of Elle Edwards, which was read at Liverpool Crown Court today:
‘On December 24, 2022 my daughter was doing what every young person should be doing at Christmas. Looking forward to Christmas Day with her family. That will never happen again.
‘She was the most caring, beautiful, happy person. She was the one every kid went to for help, or maybe just a hug.
‘Her permanent smile would light up any room she entered. She would always greet you with a hug and ask how are you doing. She always gave the best hugs, and it was always enough to lift you if you were having a bad day.
‘Elle was trying her hardest to make something of herself. She always got to where she wanted to be. She was reaching her peak and the happiest I’ve ever seen her. She had such a bright future. Elle was a fantastic sister. The bond the four of them has is unbreakable. She would give all her spare time to her brothers and sisters. Elle did the same with her friends.
‘Elle loved the company of her grandparents and was always calling in to see them. It was her second home. Elle cared for her grandmother and the two would often go out for afternoon tea or lunch somewhere. She would always make sure her nan had a great day out. The same went for her other grandfather George. She would go out the way to have a catch up with him.
‘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.
‘The event of Christmas Eve have impacted us in a huge number of ways. The feeling of loss of a child is so devastating it really can’t be put into words. It’s hard to focus on the future when no matter what we do there is nothing to bring back our daughter. I will do my best to make sure her name is never forgotten and use her name to help those who need it. Christmas will never be celebrated. Gone is the time of Christmas as a time to be together. We will never all be together.’
He continued: ‘She was the most caring, beautiful, happy person. She was the one every kid went to for help, or maybe just a hug. Her permanent smile would light up any room she entered.
‘She would always greet you with a hug and ask how are you doing. She always gave the best hugs, and it was always enough to lift you if you were having a bad day.
‘Elle was trying her hardest to make something of herself. She always got to where she wanted to be. She was reaching her peak and the happiest I’ve ever seen her.’
Mr Edwards said she had ‘such a bright future’ and was a ‘fantastic sister’, giving ‘all her spare time to her brothers and sisters’ and ‘did the same with her friends’.
He continued: ‘Elle loved the company of her grandparents and was always calling in to see them. It was her second home. Elle cared for her grandmother and the two would often go out for afternoon tea or lunch somewhere.
‘She would always make sure her nan had a great day out. The same went for her other grandfather George. She would go out the way to have a catch up with him.’
He said he ‘can’t begin to explain the devastating effect this has’ and that the ‘only people who go through such a horrific experience can ever know how it feels’.
Mr Edwards added: ‘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.
‘The event of Christmas Eve have impacted us in a huge number of ways. The feeling of loss of a child is so devastating it really can’t be put into words.
‘It’s hard to focus on the future when no matter what we do there is nothing to bring back our daughter. I will do my best to make sure her name is never forgotten and use her name to help those who need it.
‘Christmas will never be celebrated. Gone is the time of Christmas as a time to be together. We will never all be together.’
Mr Edwards also said his daughter’s mother Gaynor ‘has not been able to face coming to court but wanted her voice heard’.
Gaynor 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.’
And Miss Edwards’s grandmother Susan Edwards said in her victim impact statement: ‘To me Elle was beyond caring, beyond kind, beyond generous and loving. If you were lucky enough to be chosen by Elle as a friend, you knew it would be cherished and last forever.
‘I know as cheesy as it sounds, she called me Queen and I called her Princess.’
She added: ‘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.’
Yesterday, the jury convicted Chapman of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, as well as possession of the sub-machine gun with intent to endanger life and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Tim Edwards, pictured with his daughter Elle Edwards, who was murdered on Christmas Eve
Elle Edwards, 26, was killed outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village in Merseyside
Miss Edwards died after choosing to step outside for a cigarette just before midnight
Flowers and tribute messages were left outside the Lighthouse pub following the shooting
Chapman pleaded guilty before the trial to a charge of handling stolen goods and admitted going to burn out the car used in the shooting on December 31.
READ MORE ‘This isn’t Grand Theft Auto, this is real life’: Heartbroken father of innocent Elle Edwards says he hopes his daughter’s killer ‘rots in hell’
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 pleaded guilty before trial to a charge of failing to comply with a disclosure notice.
Today, Waring was jailed for nine years at Liverpool Crown Court.
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.
Chapman told the jury he had not been using the vehicle, which he described as a ‘pool car’ for him and other criminals, on the night of the murder but had given the car key to another man, whom he refused to name.
A file photo of a Skorpion sub-machine gun, similar to that used in the Christmas Eve shooting
The car used in the shooting was found burnt out in Frodsham, Cheshire, on New Year’s Day
Miss Edwards’s father Tim outside Liverpool Crown Court after the guilty verdict yesterday
CCTV footage showed the gunman drive away from the Lighthouse in the moments after the shooting and then arrive at Private Drive in Barnston, the home address of co-defendant Waring.
READ MORE Moment man is beaten up in gang attack that led to pub shooting which left Elle Edwards dead
The man, with long hair, was seen in the footage appearing to drop the gun as he walked towards Waring’s home.
Chapman admitted a charge of handling stolen goods before the trial started and told the jury on December 31 he had travelled with the unnamed man who took the car key when the Mercedes was burnt out in Frodsham, Cheshire.
He denied that Waring had been with him, although cell site evidence showed Waring’s phone travelled with the car.
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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