Connor Chapman's accomplice appeared in court with his face cut and bruised after he was battered with a kettle in prison.
Thomas Waring was "smashed across the face" with the makeshift weapon by a fellow inmate, who told him "that's what happens to grasses". The assault occurred inside HMP Altcourse on Wednesday evening.
His barrister William England raised the issue with trial judge Mr Justice Goose this morning, Thursday, in the absence of the jury at Liverpool Crown Court. He had been concerned that jurors may notice his client's facial injuries, with a bruise to his right cheekbone and reddening above the eye on the same side of the 20-year-old's face visible from the public gallery.
READ MORE: Chapman caught opening fire outside Lighthouse pub in chilling CCTV footage
Mr England said: "When he arrived back at Altcourse at about 6.30pm, he is padded up with another gentleman. He was then smashed across the side of the face and hit with a kettle and told 'that's what happens to grasses'."
The defence counsel said that the attacker then apologised and added that "if he didn't do it he'd be stabbed up". Waring was said to have been moved to another wing following the incident, and could now be moved to HMP Forest Bank in Manchester against his wishes.
Justice Goose ultimately opted not to address the jury on the matter believing that his scars may not be visible to the panel of seven women and five men, who were seated to his left-hand side. He told the court: "It is wrong that anybody should receive an assault at any time, in particular if they are in the middle of a trial."
The behind closed doors discussion can now be reported after Waring was unanimously found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender. A three-and-a-half week trial heard that Chapman drove directly to his house on Private Drive in Barnston after shooting 26-year-old beautician Elle Edwards dead outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Wirral, on Christmas Eve last year.
He was described as "close friend and criminal associate" of the killer, and was said to have taken possession of the Skorpion submachine gun used in the murder. This military grade weapon has never been found.
Waring then drove with Chapman in convoy to a rural location in Frodsham, Cheshire, on New Year's Eve, where they torched the stolen Mercedes A Class the gunman had been driving before and after the shooting. The vehicle had remained in the area of his address for the intervening week following the fatal incident.
Chapman, of Houghton Road in Woodchurch, was unanimously convicted of Elle's murder by a jury this afternoon after three hours and 48 minutes of deliberations. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, wounding with intent against Liam Carr and Harry Loughran, assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Nicholas Speed and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
The 23-year-old previously admitted handling stolen goods in relation to the Mercedes, while Waring pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a disclosure notice after refusing to provide the pin number to his phone to police. Both men will return to the court to be sentenced tomorrow afternoon, Friday.
