UKNIP247 
Connor Chapman, 23, has been found guilty of the murder of Elle Edwards, who was shot outside a pub on Christmas Eve. The 26-year-old victim was an innocent bystander when Chapman opened fire with a submachine gun at the Lighthouse in Wallasey Village, Wirral, shortly before midnight on December 24, 2022. In addition to the murder charge, Chapman was also convicted of two counts of attempted murder.
The murder trial involved an extensive investigation by Merseyside Police, including the examination of over 1,400 hours of CCTV footage, 37 searches, and the analysis of 1,800 exhibits related to Elle’s murder. The prosecution argued that Chapman was targeting Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, who were seriously injured in the shooting, as part of an ongoing gang feud. The court heard that Salkeld and Duffy had attacked another man, Sam Searson, in the street the previous day.
Three other individuals, Harry Loughran, Liam Carr, and Nicholas Speed, who were unconnected to the feud, were also injured in the shooting. The jury learned that Chapman had waited outside the pub in a stolen Mercedes for nearly three hours before carrying out the shooting. The weapon used was capable of firing 15 rounds per second.
During the trial, Chapman claimed that he had not used the stolen vehicle, describing it as a “pool car” used by him and other criminals. He asserted that he had given the car key to an unnamed individual. CCTV footage showed the gunman leaving the scene of the shooting and arriving at the home address of co-defendant Thomas Waring in Barnston, where he appeared to drop the gun.
Chapman admitted to handling stolen goods prior to the trial but denied Waring’s involvement. However, cell site evidence indicated that Waring’s phone had travelled with the car. Detective Superintendent Paul Grounds, the senior investigating officer in the case, described Chapman as a “dangerous and ruthless individual.”
The jury was presented with DNA evidence linking Chapman to the crime, including red gloves worn by the attacker and a bullet casing found at the scene covered in Chapman’s DNA. Chapman was arrested 17 days after the attack while in a supermarket, despite repeated requests by the police for him to surrender himself.

