Thomas Waring has been jailed for nine years for his role in helping Connor Chapman after the murder of Elle Edwards.
Chapman will spend at least 48 years behind bars after opening fire outside The Lighthouse pub in Wallasey on Christmas Eve. The 23-year-old fired 12 shots from a Skorpion submachine gun shortly before midnight, killing beautician Elle Edwards.
Following the shooting, Chapman fled to Waring's house where CCTV showed the killer, with distinctive long hair, appearing to drop the gun on the pavement as he walked towards the address.
READ MORE: Elle Edwards latest: Connor Chapman sentenced to 48 years in prison
A week later, on New Year’s Eve, he and Waring, 20, drove to Frodsham, Cheshire, where they burned out the stolen Mercedes.
A jury of seven women and five men came to a unanimous decision on Chapman's guilt yesterday after three hours and 48 minutes of deliberations, following a three and a half week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Today trial judge Mr Justice Goose described Chapman as a "highly dangerous man".
Justice Goose said: “Shortly before midnight on Christmas Eve last year, the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village was busy with revellers enjoying the season and looking forward to Christmas day. Six of them found themselves outside the building. They were Elle Edwards, Kieran Salkeld, Jake Duffy, Harry Loughran, Liam Carr, and Nicholas Speed.
“They were not all together, they just happened to be there. What you did to them was as wicked as it was shocking. You murdered Elle Edwards, bringing to an end her young life. You attempted to murder Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, causing them very serious injury.
“You obtained a submachine gun loaded with 12 bullets and prepared to fire all of them. Your intention was to murder Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld. You didn’t care who else would be killed. That’s why you fired all the bullets at the group. I’m satisfied you are a highly dangerous man.
“It’s utterly shocking you carefully planned a revenge attack in a gang rivalry. You had no thought for anyone else. The risks of what you did were as high as they were obvious.”
A jury heard that a taxi, booked by Waring under a fake name and with a vague pick up point, took Chapman home to Woodchurch at around 5am on Christmas morning.
The pair then took steps to cover up their vile crime by driving in convoy to a remote spot off Grassy Lane, Frodsham, on New Year’s Eve, where the stolen Mercedes was torched.
Chapman told the jury he accepted he had access to the car for weeks before the murder, but claimed it was a “pool car” used by him and others mainly for drug-dealing.
He said a man who called him shortly before he left to travel to Wallasey had arranged to take the car that evening, and sent an underling to pick up the keys.
The jury heard Chapman accepted he burned the car out, but claimed this was after he figured out it had been used in the shooting and because he knew he was “forensically linked” to it.
Waring, who refused to give evidence in what Mr Power called “the ultimate in cowardice”, told his barrister William England to suggest to Chapman that he did in fact travel to Waring’s house after midnight on Christmas Day, effectively shredding his defence.
However Waring’s case was that although his phone was tracked on the journey to burn out the car, someone else was using it and he was not involved.
The jury never heard any more from him.
Much of what Chapman did next was not disputed, the jury heard.
After initially preparing to flee to Santander in Spain via car ferry, Chapman became aware the police were hunting for him when a search warrant was executed at the home of his grandparents in Woodland Road, Woodchurch. In a call from Chapman’s granddad’s phone, a police sergeant asked him to hand himself in for questioning over a “serious” matter, which Chapman refused to do.
Instead, he asked a friend to book a stay for him and his partner in Penllwyn Lodges, North Wales.
Merseyside Police soon got wind their man was over the border and an operation involving plain clothes police officers was executed on January 10 at a Tesco in Newtown.
Although the murder weapon was never recovered, the investigation revealed Chapman’s DNA in a mixed sample on a bullet casing found at the scene and on a red glove recovered from Waring’s home which matched one the gunman was wearing. A single particle of gunshot residue was also present on the glove.
As the verdicts were read, Elle’s family let out sighs of relief, whispered "yes" and her dad, Tim Edwards, punched the air.
Chapman was convicted of Elle’s murder, the attempted murders of Salkeld and Duffy, wounding Mr Loughran and Mr Carr with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assaulting Mr Speed causing actual bodily harm.
He was also convicted of possessing an prohibited weapon and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
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