Elle Edwards: Murder-accused given gang injunction, trial hears

Elle Edwards was shot dead outside a Wirral pub shortly before midnight on 24 December 2022

A man accused of murdering a woman who was shot outside a pub was served with an injunction to prevent gang violence two months earlier, a trial has heard.

Elle Edwards, 26, died after being shot at the Lighthouse in Wallasey Village, Wirral, on Christmas Eve in 2022.

The jury was told the intended victims were Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, who were injured along with three others.

Connor Chapman, 23, of no fixed address, denies murder and seven other charges.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the shooting was the culmination of a feud between people on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates, located on either side of the M53 in Wirral.

The jury was shown footage of an assault carried out by Mr Salkeld and Mr Duffy, from the Beechwood estate, on Sam Searson, from the Woodchurch estate, the day before the beautician, Ms Edwards, was shot.

Elle Edwards was shot outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral

The court heard on 26 October last year Mr Chapman was served with an interim injunction "to prevent gang-related violence".

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

Mr Chapman, who at the time was living with his grandparents on Woodland Road, was prohibited from entering the Woodchurch estate, other than a route to get to his address, and the Beechwood estate.

The order, which was re-issued on 16 November after it expired, also prevented him from threatening to use violence, engaging in abusive or threatening conduct, being in possession of Class A or B drugs and possessing equipment for use in the manufacture, cultivation or distribution of class A or B drugs.

On 28 November, Mr Chapman was in the company of two other men, Curtis Byrne and Mason Smith, in the immediate aftermath of a burglary in which two electric bikes were stolen, the jury was told.

Ms Appleton said Mr Byrne and Mr Smith, who both pleaded guilty to the burglary, were shown with Mr Chapman and the two stolen bikes on a phone video taken shortly after the incident.

Connor Chapman, 23, denies murder and seven other charges.

She said Mr Byrne was shot in the leg with a Glock self-loading pistol on 3 December.

Fifteen days later, on 18 December, the same weapon was used to shoot Kieran Cowley, the court heard.

The jury was told a stolen Ford Kuga car, which Mr Duffy had been seen in two days earlier, was used in the attack.

Mr 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, who is accused of helping Mr Chapman dispose of the car, denies possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender.

The trial continues.

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