Elle Edwards: Connor Chapman convicted of murdering beautician in Christmas Eve shooting
A 23-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of beautician Elle Edwards, who was shot dead outside a pub in Merseyside on Christmas Eve.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court convicted Connor Chapman, who fired twelve bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine gun outside the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey, just 10 minutes before Christmas Day last year.
Ms Edwards, 26, was last seen on CCTV leaving the pub for a cigarette just four minutes before Chapman unleashed his attack.
Along with killing Ms Edwards, he injured five men, two of which were his intended targets.
Chapman was found guilty of Ms Edwards’s murder following a trial, which lasted more than three weeks.
He was also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of a firearm.
His co-defendant, Thomas Waring, 20, was found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping to burn out the stolen Mercedes used in the murder.
The family of Ms Edwards were present for every day of Chapman’s trial and, for them, this conviction is a “huge relief”.
Her grieving father, Tim Edwards, also labelled Chapman a “coward” who he said had not looked him in the eye throughout the trial – adding: “I hope he rots in hell”.
Connor Chapman. Pic: Merseyside Police
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “He’s taken the core of our family and he’s ripped it out. We’ll never have Elle back, that’s just something that’s never going to happen.
“But she’ll always be here, so we still have that and we’re never going to allow him to take that away from us. No one can.”
Mr Edwards added that the conviction was a huge step forward for the family.
“It’s a new chapter,” he said. “It’s the beginning of the future without Elle.”
Speaking about the conviction of Chapman, he added: “It means he [Chapman] is off the streets, someone else is not going to suffer at the hands of him.”
Mr Edwards said he had attempted to look the defendant in the eye as he sat in the dock, but that he had avoided eye contact with him.
“He’s a scumbag, isn’t he? An absolute scumbag,” he said.
“No remorse, not one ounce, not one sign of regret for what he’s done. If anything, arrogant to actually believe he can pull the wool over people’s eyes and get away with it.”
Speaking outside court following the verdict, he said: “I hope they never see a Christmas again ever in their lives
“I’ve had my eyes on him [Chapman] for four weeks – he’s not looked at me once.
“He’s a coward. That’s exactly what he is. I hope he rots in hell.”
Elle Edwards was shot while out celebrating Christmas with friends
‘Dangerous, despicable and ruthless’
Merseyside Police investigated more than 1,400 hours of CCTV footage, carried out 37 searches and examined 1,800 exhibits in relation to Elle’s murder.
To convict the “dangerous, despicable and ruthless individual” the evidence was overwhelming.
The jury was shown evidence relating to Chapman’s DNA, including red gloves worn by the attacker when carrying out his shooting, which police seized at his friend’s address.
A bullet casing found at the scene of the murder was also covered in Chapman’s DNA.
CCTV footage of the 23-year-old also showed Chapman ruffling his long hair and dropping the Skorpion gun as he walked towards his friend’s home just 12 minutes after the shooting.
A Skorpion sub-machine gun, similar to that used in the shooting
Police arrested Chapman 17 days after the attack while in a supermarket despite repeated requests to hand himself in.
Detective Superintendent Paul Grounds told Sky News: “This was a sickening attack by a ruthless and dangerous individual.
“It’s incomprehensible that somebody would think that they could get away with leaving the house, possession of a gun, going to a pub that was packed and then discharge a submachine gun into a crowd.
“That night changed the lives of many people forever.”
‘Ongoing feud’ led to wild shooting into crowd
Chapman was seen arriving in Wallasey just before 9pm on Christmas Eve, just under three hours before he would carry out his attack.
CCTV showed him driving a stolen Mercedes A-Class into the pub car park and pulling up in a bay where he lay in wait for 55 minutes.
Gunman leaving the Lighthouse pub car park, Merseyside, in the Mercedes following the shooting
After seeing his targets, two men from a rival estate, he’s seen approaching the building and then firing 12 shots indiscriminately into a crowd of people at the entrance of the pub.
Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, Chapman’s intended targets, were both seriously injured.
Just a day before the attack the pair had assaulted an associate of Chapman.
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The prosecution said his “inexplicable actions” were the culmination of this “ongoing feud”.
DS Grounds added: “Connor Chapman has given Elle’s family a life sentence.
“I hope during his period in custody, which will be significant, the enormity of what he’s done and what he’s taken from that family remains with him for the rest of his life.”
Mr Edwards said Chapman has shown no remorse throughout the entirety of the trial.
The grieving father said: “He doesn’t care for what he’s done and what he’s guilty of.
“He hasn’t got an ounce of humanity about him – he hasn’t showed one bit of regret.”
The father of Elle Edwards, Tim Edwards, arrives with family members at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in Liverpool
Remembering his daughter before her funeral in January, Mr Edwards told Sky News: “She’s the type of person that would walk into the room and everyone would gravitate towards her because she was always smiling.
“She was beautiful looking and she was a great hugger. She was just a fantastic human being with a heart of gold.”
He added: “Christmas Day didn’t mean anything, that had gone.
“It didn’t feel real and Christmas will never be the same. Christmas will never be a point of celebration for me, ever.”
The judge, Mr Justice Goose, said he would sentence Chapman and Waring on Friday at 2pm.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
“It has been a success.”
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
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As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.
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