Adam Ellison: Sisters' anguish as brother's killer still at large

Adam Ellison had been planning to get married when he was stabbed

The sisters of a man who was stabbed to death in the street have described the "torture" of knowing his killer is still walking the streets six years on.

Adam Ellison, 29, was stabbed in the neck following a row with two people on a motorbike in Prescot, Merseyside, on 4 November 2017.

Police have made 12 arrests during the course of the murder inquiry but no-one has been charged.

His sister Nicola Ellison spoke of the anguish of waiting for justice.

"There's a murderer out there on the streets still after six years," she told BBC North West Tonight.

"And we're tortured every day knowing that we haven't got justice for Adam."

The trainee supermarket manager was stabbed at about 00:40 GMT on Market Place with an unknown weapon on a night out with his three cousins and a friend.

The attackers fled the scene and Mr Ellison was pronounced dead in hospital.

Nicola Ellison and Joanne Evans have urged anyone with information to come forward

Ms Ellison was in bed when she received a phone call from a relative to say her brother had been stabbed.

"I just remember thinking it can't be as bad as they're making out. It's Adam," she said.

But when she arrived at the hospital, she said she could tell from everyone's faces that "it was worse than we thought".

"It was complete disbelief. I couldn't believe that this was happening to my brother, who was the nicest person you could ever meet," she said.

"He didn't have any enemies. He had so many friends and was loved by everybody."

She said the family were told a short time later that medics had been unable to save him.

"Literally everybody collapsed in that room - screams, wailing and crying," she said .

Mr Ellison's sister Joanne Evans said the impact of her brother's death had been unbearable.

"It's like walking round like somebody's took your heart and wrung it and stuck it back in. It's exhausting," she said.

Debbie Scott, who was working as a trauma sister, described the night of his death as "horrific"

Debbie Scott, who was one of the medics in the accident and emergency room when Mr Ellison was brought in, said in 30 years of the job "that was one of my hardest nights".

It was only after desperate attempts to save the 29-year-old's life that she realised she also knew the family.

"The A&E consultant came in and said the family had just arrived and they'd like to come in," she said.

"It was only when the family walked in, I realised I went to school with the girls.

"It was like, wow, I know this family. They are a lovely working-class family. They remind me of our own family.

"I just could not believe that this was their brother on the table."

A charity foundation has been set up in Adam's name to support the people in the community

The charity Crimestoppers has offered a reward of up to £20,000 for information they exclusively receive that leads to a murder conviction.

Det Insp Dave Jones said the force needed the public to come forward with evidence.

"We know that the answers lie within our communities and that people have chosen to stay quiet," he said.

"To those people I would say please search your conscience.

"Tell us what you know and let us do the rest. Adam's family don't deserve to be left in limbo without ever getting any justice."

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