The man accused of shooting Elle Edwards claimed he has been "targeted by the police" in the past and was "as disgusted as anyone" by her death.
"Wholly innocent" Elle, 26, was struck in the head twice after a man sprayed the front of the busy Lighthouse pub, Wallasey Village, with 12 bullets from a sub-machine gun, shortly before midnight on Christmas Eve.
Five other men were wounded in the incident but survived their injuries. The prosecution case is that two of those men - Kieron Salkeld and Jake Duffy - were the killer's intended targets.
READ MORE: Live court updates as Connor Chapman stands trial for Elle Edwards' murder
Connor Chapman, 23, is on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with Elle's murder, the attempted murder of Salkeld and Duffy and wounding the other three victims with intent. He also denies possessing a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Chapman has accepted he had access to a stolen black Mercedes used by the killer for around three months prior to the shooting, but says a man he has refused to name arranged to borrow it that evening.
Yesterday, June 19, the jury heard the contents of a prepared statement given by Chapman after his arrest on suspicion of Elle's murder on January 10. Chapman declined to answer questions directly, but via his solicitor, told detectives he was at home in Houghton Road, Woodchurch, at the time of the shooting.
In the statement, read to the jury by Katy Appleton, junior counsel for the prosecution, Chapman said: "I am not responsible for the shootings of those individuals. I am not the driver or the occupant of the Mercedes on the 24th of December. I was not present at the scene, I did not do anything to assist or encourage those responsible."
He added: "An associate attended at Houghton Road, he used the Mercedes and I gave him the key. He had also been a frequent driver of the car so I didn't question it."
The jury has heard Chapman did not hand himself in, despite being told he was wanted by a police sergeant, Alan O'Shaughnessy, during a phone call on New Year's Day.
Addressing why he did not attend a police station until he was arrested on January 10, Chapman said: "The Officer advised me to get home. He said he would get the Police to collect me and bring me back to the house.
"He didn't say or indicate I was going to be arrested. He didn't say anything about attending the police station. In recent years, I have felt targeted by the Police. I didn't want to go and speak to them."
Chapman claimed he was shocked by news of the shooting, and referred to a Facebook post he wrote about the incident. He said: "When I heard about what happened from the news and social media, I was as disgusted as anyone by it. Whatever has been cause of it, it needs to stop and I wrote a public Facebook post on 12th January, 2023.
"These were my attempts to diffuse whatever situation had escalated."
The jury heard that Chapman did not answer questions about what he had included in his statement. However, when detectives suggested the person who borrowed the Mercedes on December 24 may be the murderer, he responded: "Is that not a good enough reason for me not to give his name? What that person is capable of? I would say it is."
Nigel Power, KC, prosecuting, has told the jury the Crown's case is that the shooting was the "culmination" of a violent feud between criminal groups based in the Woodchurch estate and on the other side the Beechwood/Ford estate in Wirral.
The jury have been told Salkeld and Duffy have since pleaded guilty to dishing out a serious bearing to an associate of Chapman, called Sam Searson, in Rock Ferry the day before the shooting.
Two other men linked to the Woodchurch group, Curtis Byrne and Kieron Cowley, were also wounded in shootings in December believed to be related to the feud.
The trial continues.
