Elle Edwards: 'My daughter's murderer can rot in hell'

Tim Edwards, pictured on a climb of Mount Snowdon, with his daughter Elle

It was the early hours of Christmas Day when Tim Edwards awoke to be told the worst news a parent can ever hear.

His 26-year-old daughter Elle, out having a few festive drinks with friends at a pub, had been shot dead.

It just did not make sense - Tim and Elle had spoken only a few hours earlier, talking about meeting to wrap presents.

Innocent bystander Elle was shot twice in the head when Connor Chapman opened fire with a sub-machine gun, targeting two men who were standing near her as she smoked a cigarette outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village.

The attack was the culmination of a violent feud between rival gangs on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates, on either side of the M53 in Wirral.

Tim, who regularly spoke to BBC Breakfast during Chapman's trial at Liverpool Crown Court, refuses to use the name of the man who murdered his daughter.

"That thing that pulled the trigger," he said. "I hope he rots in hell. Even that's too good for him."

Tim said he simply could not fathom why any human being could have done what Chapman did.

"I can't begin to understand how someone's mind says 'we'll get in a car and we'll drive to a pub full of people, with a machine gun, and I'm going to open it up and fire it into that pub'.

"Where does that thought come from? Who has that thought?

"Oh, and they think they are getting away with it. This is not Grand Theft Auto. This is not a video game. This is real life."

Elle Edwards was shot dead while on a Christmas Eve night out with friends

In court watching the trial, Tim had a silver locket around his neck, containing a lock of his daughter's hair.

Time and time again, jurors were played CCTV footage of the shooting.

Every time it played and a dozen shots could be heard ringing out, Tim said he fixed his eyes on the accused.

"I look for a reaction, and he hasn't given one yet - not one inkling of remorse or regret or anything."

He said he always stared "right at him, and he knows that I'm staring at him".

Elle Edwards was shot dead outside a pub just before midnight on Christmas Eve

Tim also spoke with huge warmth about his daughter, who worked as a beautician.

"How can I put across how she was to people who didn't know her? Great, beautiful, kind, giving.

"Always looking out for people, especially her family. Bubbly. Always had a laugh.

"She set her own goals and was achieving them. And she did it with a smile on her face."

When innocent bystanders are killed it is often said they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tim sees it very differently.

"She was in the right place," he said. "She should have been out enjoying herself on Christmas Eve with her friends, waiting for the day to come to spend it with her family.

"The person that pulled that trigger was in the wrong place."

Elle was killed outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral

By way of contrast, Tim reserved special praise for Merseyside Police after hearing many officers volunteered to sacrifice their Christmas plans to help with the investigation.

"They were turning officers away from the police station," he said. "They all turned up wanting to do something. They physically couldn't fit them all in.

"They felt the need to give up their Christmas Day. To turn up and do what they can. Just shows you the standard they have, which I'll be forever grateful for."

Despite his gratitude, on a personal level Tim admitted being "ready to explode" with anger at times during the trial.

"The kids and family are looking at me and if I go they'll go," he said.

"It tears you apart - as a family it will do its best to destroy you.

"He has taken the core of our family - ripped it out. We'll never have Elle back but... she's always here in our hearts.

"If anything, he's also strengthened our family unit, he's brought us something that is hard to put into words.

"He's made the glue that was there before with Elle stronger. That glue will never break.

"We'll carry on together for her."

You can watch a full interview with Tim Edwards on BBC Breakfast or catch up later on the BBC iPlayer