The dad of Elle Edwards says he has been supported by the families of other young people murdered in horrific acts of violence in Merseyside.
Tim Edwards told the ECHO he had shared brief conversations with the family of Ava White, the 12-year-old girl stabbed to death in Liverpool City Centre in November 2021, and Michael Rainsford, 20, who was shot in front of his family in Litherland in April, 2020.
Mr Edwards punched the air as his daughter's killer, gangland thug Connor Chapman, was convicted of her murder at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday following a three and a half week trial. Chapman, 23, sprayed a group of people with bullets from a sub-machine gun as they stood outside the Lighthouse Pub, Wallasey Village, shortly before midnight last year.
READ MORE: How Connor Chapman went from 'nuisance ASBO yob' to ruthless gangland killer
CCTV footage of the despicable act, played time and time again during the trial, showed how indiscriminately Chapman fired into the cluster of people smoking and chatting outside the pub, in an attempt to hit two rival gang members - Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy.
Mr Edwards has described Chapman as a "scumbag" who has not displayed an "ounce of remorse", and said outside court yesterday how he hopes the drug-dealer "rots in hell".
Despite his unspeakable loss, Mr Edwards has shared his determination for Elle's legacy to be a positive force, and before the trial joined Liverpool actor John May for part of his hike from Land’s End to John O’Groats, raising money for the violence reduction charity Weapons Down Gloves Up.
Mr Edwards has set up a foundation in Elle's name which he intends to focus on once Chapman is sentenced today.
In an interview with reporters, the ECHO asked whether Mr Edwards has drawn support from any other families of the victims of high-profile murders which rocked Merseyside in recent times.
He said: "I spoke to the Ava White family a bit on socials and one or two other families via social networks and stuff. I’ve met Michael Rainsford’s family, they came on the walk into Liverpool and I got to meet his dad. It makes you realise there’s quite a few of us. It’s a shame."
Mr Edwards said he had not had chance to speak to the families of last year's unexpected spike in fatal shootings, including Sam Rimmer, Ashley Dale, Olivia Pratt-Korbel and Jackie Rutter.
However he added: "Once this trial’s dealt with and we start working with the foundation we’ll hopefully get to catch up with them."
Asked what his plans were for the foundation in Elle's name, he said: "We’re going to concentrate back on that. Get something hopefully going on with the foundation, get that up and running, we’ve got a bit of work to do.
"I took my foot off the pedal a little bit with it because of the trial coming up, and so much going, on because there’s so many things involved with setting up a charity, it’s mind-boggling. But now I’m going to focus more on it and hopefully come up with an end goal of what we’re going to try and achieve in Elle’s name.
"We’ll figure that out soon enough, she’ll tell us which way to go with it. "
Mr Edwards said it was vital that "something positive" emerged from the devastation of last Christmas. He said: "It has to. And it leaves a legacy then in her name so we can hopefully help people who need it, which is what it’s about.
"She won’t be forgotten then, and that’s what’s important to me, that she’s never forgotten. So if that’s one way we can do it then we’ll do it.
"Once this is over, the trial, it’s a new future for me."
The ECHO asked Mr Edwards what his message would be to anyone at risk of following the path of Connor Chapman into a life of gang related crime.
He said: "Just don’t do it. Don’t do it, it’s not going to end well. Never ends well for anyone, does it, in that situation.
"I understand there’s the aspect of people who need to be in a position like that for survival, I completely understand that, it’s a natural instinct to survive, you will do what you need to do to survive, but there’s a lot of options that you can choose to survive and the road of gang culture and gun and knife crime is not the answer. It’s not going to work out, trust me, it really isn’t."
When asked about the gang feud which was described in evidence during the trial, involving rival groups from Chapman's home around the Woodchurch estate on one side, and around the Beechwood/Ford estate, where Duffy and Salkeld lived, on the other.
He said: "I’ve known that feud was going on for years. Feuds have happened forever but it’s always been, in the past I suppose, dealt with by fist fights or groups going at each other in a pub or whatever, but now it’s come to the point where they’re shooting each other.
"It’s not really a surprise but it’s surprising the manner that it’s resulted in the death of my daughter who had nothing to do with any of it, and she’s in a pub on Christmas Eve doing what any young girl should be doing, having a drink, having a good time, waiting to go and spend her Christmas with her family and some scumbag walks in and thinks he can open fire on a pub on Christmas Eve.
"I can’t get my head around where that thought process comes from. "
Chapman, formerly of Houghton Road in Woodchurch, will face sentence this afternoon. His "trusted associate", 20-year-old Thomas Waring, of Private Drive in Barnston, also faces sentence after being convicted of assisting an offender and possession of a prohibited weapon.
