The prosecution case against Connor Chapman for the murder of Elle Edwards has been "significantly changed" mid-way through his trial after a review of CCTV footage.
Chapman, 23, is facing a jury at Liverpool Crown Court accused of being the gunman who fired 12 shots at a group of people stood outside the Lighthouse Pub, Wallasey Village, shortly before midnight on Christmas Eve last year.
Elle, 26, was struck twice in the head by two bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine gun, while the gunman's alleged "intended targets", Kieron Salkeld and Jake Duffy, were seriously wounded. Three other men, described as "innocent bystanders", were also wounded.
READ MORE: Elle Edwards latest: Live updates as prosecution closes case in Connor Chapman trial
Nigel Power, KC, prosecuting, has told the jury that Elle was the "wholly innocent victim" of an escalating feud between criminal groups based around the Woodchurch estate, where Chapman lived, and the Beechwood/Ford estate, where Salkeld and Duffy lived.
Today Detective Sergeant Peter Cietak, of Merseyside Police's Major Crimes Unit, told the jury police had seized around 1,400 hours of CCTV footage as part of the investigation into Elle's murder.
He was questioned over a disputed piece of footage seized from a camera facing Chapman's home in Houghton Road, Woodchurch. Detectives examined the recording from between 7.32pm on Christmas Eve, when Chapman returned to his home from a shopping trip in Manchester, to the time he allegedly left to travel to Wallasey Village just over an hour later.
The camera, around 100m away on the opposite side of a duel carriageway, showed a distant view of the living room window and front door area of the house. The prosecution had initially suggested that a figure they claim is Chapman left the property at 8.44pm, walked around the back of the row of houses and drove towards Wallasey in a stolen black Mercedes, parked nearby.
However, Chapman's legal team noticed that the figure seen at 8.44pm had in fact walked from further up Houghton Road, passing Chapman's home address from right to left, rather than appearing to exit from inside the property.
The jury heard in response, the prosecution and Merseyside Police investigators reviewed the footage last week and accepted the point. However, detectives also noticed another figure appear in front of the property at 8.31pm, heading from left to right, which had not been spotted before the opening of the trial.
DS Cietak confirmed the prosecution position is now that Chapman left his home at 8.31pm, walked off camera for 12 minutes, and then returned before driving to Wallasey.
Mark Rhind, KC, defending Chapman, suggested this was a "significant change" in the prosecution case. Questioning DS Cietak, he said: "Six months after the offence, five and a half months after Connor Chapman’s arrest, a long time after the footage was reviewed and two weeks into the trial, it may be the prosecution were wrong all along?”
Trial judge Mr Justice Goose interjected and suggested he may like to "rephrase" the question.
Mr Rhind said: "Was the prosecution case, for many months, Connor Chapman came out his house for the first time at 20.44? The case is now that he came out 12 minutes earlier, went down the road and came back up. Let’s be frank, that was us who reported that to you.... We were giving you notice of what we’d seen. Obviously, you realise that was potentially an important issue?"
DS Cietak replied: “It is a key piece of footage and clearly that had not featured in the schedule prepared. If one sighting of a black mark had been seen we wanted to be sure we’ve not spotted any others."
Mr Rhind suggested that enhancing and zooming in on the footage could distort images if done in the wrong way, as a previous witness, Tessa Macklam, had explained.
He said an expert instructed by the defence to examine the footage concluded it was "equally probable" that the figure at 8.31pm left Chapman's home rather than not. He asked: "Does that make you hesitate about your conclusions at all?”
DS Cietak responded: "No, not really. In analysing everything again, we looked at the entire period of footage from when Connor Chapman returns from Manchester to the point the figure walks around the back gets in the car and goes off. I looked specifically at that bright window and the other lights in the vicinity. The only occasions when we see a black shape, anything similar to what you’ve illustrated, are at the times he returns from Manchester and when the figure is walking round the back. There are no times in between we see similar markings.”
Mr Rhind suggested the footage was "not of high enough quality to be sure of anything you are pointing out to us".
DS Cietak replied: "I agree that this is footage in the distance, however the shapes that we’ve pointed out are undeniable. They also differ to anything else in the in between that we see. For me, it does carry some significance.”
Chapman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Elle Edwards, the attempted murder of Kieron Salkeld and Jake Duffy, and wounding the three other victim with intent to cause GBH. He also denies possessing a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Another man, 20-year-old Thomas Waring, of Private Drive in Barnston, is also on trial having denied possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender.
The trial continues
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