Sister of beautician shot outside pub told her ‘not to be late’ home, court told

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The sister of a beautician shot outside a pub on Christmas Eve told her not to return home late when she last saw her, just hours before she died, a court has heard.

Elle Edwards, 26, was killed when a gunman with a Skorpion sub-machine gun opened fire outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, Merseyside shortly before midnight on December 24 last year.

On Wednesday, the jury in the trial of Connor Chapman, 23, who is accused of Ms Edwards’ murder, heard a statement from her younger sister Lucy who had been with her in the pub earlier that evening.

She said they had been to the same pub the previous year and wanted to make it a “Christmas Eve tradition”.

“It was generally a good night,” she said.

In the statement, she said that at one point they left to go to another pub and Elle later dropped her home, between 9.30pm and 10.30pm, before returning to the Lighthouse.

Lucy said: “When I got out of the car, I told Elle not to be late so not to ruin Christmas. She said she wouldn’t, she would be about an hour.”

She last sent her sister a text just before 11.30pm telling her to “get home” but it was never read, the court heard.

Lucy said it was about 1am on Christmas Day that she was woken by her brother George, who told her Elle had been shot.

The shooting is alleged to have been the culmination of an ongoing feud between groups on the Woodchurch estate, where Chapman was from, and the Beechwood estate, where Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, said to be the intended targets, lived.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that on October 26 last year, Chapman was served with an interim injunction “to prevent gang-related violence”.

Katy Appleton, prosecuting, said the notice prohibited Chapman from associating with a number of named individuals – including Mr Salkeld and Mr Duffy.

The jury heard about a number of events in the weeks running up to the shooting linked to people from both estates, on either side of the M53 in Wirral.

They included a burglary and two shootings.

Footage of an assault carried out by Mr Duffy and Mr Salkeld on Sam Searson, from the Woodchurch estate, the day before the murder was played to the jury.

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.

Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, of Private Drive, Barnston, Wirral, denies possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping Chapman to dispose of the car.

The trial continues on Thursday.