Man charged with murder of Elle Edwards in Christmas Eve pub shooting appears in court

Ms Edwards, 26, was seeing in Christmas when she was hit by gunfire just minutes before midnight at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, on the evening of December 24th.

Now Connor Chapman, 22, has appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.

He has been charged with Ms Edwards’ murder, as well as the attempted murder of Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, and the unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm of Harry Loughran, Nicholas Speed and Liam Carr.

He was also charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, relating to a converted Scorpion sub-machine gun, and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Chapman, wearing a grey tracksuit and with long hair, was also charged with handling stolen goods, a Mercedes A Class car, between December 22 and 26 last year.

He spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and said he was of no fixed address and the hearing, attended by a dozen members of the press, lasted only three minutes.

All the charges are related to the Christmas Eve shooting, which caused shock and anger on the Wirral, in Merseyside, over the festive period.

Ms Edwards - who died from gunshot wounds to the head - was not believed to have been the intended target of the attack.

A 23-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender was released on bail pending further inquiries, Merseyside Police also said yesterday(Fri).

Three other people were previously arrested in connection with the murder.

A 31-year-old man from Tranmere, Wirral, and a 19-year-old woman from Rock Ferry, Wirral, were held on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and bailed pending further inquiries.

A 30-year-old man from Tranmere, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, was recalled to prison on licence.

Last week a coroner opening an inquest into her death described Ms Edwards as a “beautiful young woman” with a “bright future ahead”.

Coroner Anita Bhardwaj told the grieving Edwards family: “This is such a tragic death of a beautiful young woman who clearly had a bright future ahead of her and so much to offer both in her career as well as personally.

“We all appreciate, I think, as parents, nothing can prepare us for the death of a child in any way, shape or form and I think we can only imagine what the parents and family are going through.”

Ms Edwards’s father Tim paid tribute to her, describing her as “the most beautiful and bright star” while her sister Lucy Edwards said her sibling was “her best friend”, the “kindest person ever” and “beautiful, inside and out”.

In a statement, the family added she had “so many amazing plans for the future”, and that “Christmas and our family will never be the same again without her”.