Thomas Waring, the man who helped Connor Chapman after he fatally shot Elle Edwards outside a Wirral pub on Christmas Eve, has been pictured for the first time.
Waring, 20, was today found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender.
Ms Edwards, a beautician, was enjoying a drink with friends on December 24 last year at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey when she was gunned down with a sub-machine gun. Chapman shot the innocent 26-year-old twice in the head as she sat perched on a raised wooden flower bed outside the entrance, the Liverpool Echo reports.
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Five men, including the intended targets Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, were also injured in the attack. The trial heard the attack was the culmination of a feud between groups on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates, on either side of the M53 in Wirral.
Following the shooting, Chapman drove the stolen Mercedes he was driving to his long-term friend Waring's home on Private Drive, Barnston. CCTV from the street showed a figure with long hair walking along and dropping the gun, which skidded along the floor.
Although the murder weapon was never recovered, an 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.
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 court heard. 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.
Waring, who refused to give evidence in what the prosecution called “the ultimate in cowardice”, told his barrister William England to suggest to Chapman that he did travel to Waring’s house after midnight on Christmas Day, effectively shredding his defence after he said he was at home.
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.
Chapman was convicted of murder, the attempted murders of Salkeld and Duffy, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm. Both Chapman, 23, and Waring were convicted after a jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three hours and 48 minutes at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, July 6.
Speaking outside court, Ms Edwards' father Tim Edwards said: “Those two cowards in there decided to drag it out for four weeks, put all these people through that and everyone else around it, involved in the case. I can’t thank the police enough for what they did and we got there in the end, the right result. I hope them two never see another Christmas again ever in their lives.”
Both men will be sentenced at the same court at 2pm on Friday, July 6. Mr Justice Goose warned he may consider whether a whole life order was appropriate for Chapman.
