Connor Chapman told police from his cell that he was "not fussed" after being arrested on suspicion of murder, a court heard.
Elle Edwards, 26, was stood outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village at 11.47pm on Christmas Eve when she was shot twice in the head by a killer who lay in wait for three hours. Connor Chapman, 23, is standing trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murder of the "wholly innocent" 26-year-old as well as the attempted murder of Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, who the prosecution allege were the gunman's intended target, who survived their injuries.
Chapman also faces three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against three other innocent bystanders hit by gunfire; Harry Loughran, Nicholas Speed and Liam Carr. The court heard police raided the home of Chapman's grandparents in Woodchuch on New Year's Day, eight days after Elle Edwards was shot dead outside the Lighthouse Inn pub in Wallasey Village.
READ MORE: Live court updates as Connor Chapman stands trial for Elle Edwards' murder
Chapman was not at the address however his grandad, Dave McLellan, phoned him and he was urged by a sergeant to give himself up. On January 3 Chapman contacted his friend, Thomas Waring, who stands accused of assisting Chapman by disposing of the Mercedes A Class car used in the fatal drive-by shooting.
Prosecutor Nigel Power said: “On January 9, a woman (who cannot be named for legal reasons) booked Penllwyn Lodges - a holiday home in mid Wales. She provided a Connor Chapman number.
"It was for four nights from the ninth of January. The romance of Prosecco and petals.”
Chapman was arrested on January 10, along with his girlfriend, at a Tesco supermarket in Newtown. The jury today [Thursday] heard a statement from PC Sean Gates of Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales, who was tasked with remaining with the murder accused to observe him.
PC Gates said he made a note of what happened as he was observing Chapman, and he had a copy of the notes with him. He took over this observation at 6.32pm.
The notes read: “You can sit in the cell door with him, you can engage in general conversation. The detained person requested to have something to eat.
"While we made that he made a comment saying he was gutted because he was going to hand himself in on Monday because he didn't want to be arrested. He said was not fussed about being here in the custody suite for murder but more about newspaper articles naming and shaming him as they had done to others.”
At 7.36pm Chapman said: “gun crime is at an all time high and some people are ruthless there is a time and place for that s***. He also said he saw the clip of the gunshots on the news and it sounded like an automatic firing 13 shots, not six or seven like the newspapers were saying.”
PC Gates said Chapman also made a comment suggesting he didn’t care about being arrested for murder as “they didn’t have anything on me”.
Mark Rhind, KC, defending Chapman, suggested there were other interactions that were not recorded in this set of notes in the five hours he was observing him and added the defendant told the constable he was a “changed person now”.
Mr Rhind added that at 8pm Chapman asked when he would be taken to Merseyside, and at 8.07pm he said he felt he was having a panic attack.
Four minutes later he said he “doesn’t care about the murder they don’t have anything on me.”
PC Gates said: “He was talking to himself in the cell after he calmed down”.
Chapman denies the murder of Elle Edwards, two counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He also denies possession of a Skorpion sub-machine gun with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, of Private Drive, Barnston, Wirral, denies possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping Chapman to dispose of the car. The trial will continue on Monday.
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