Young drug dealers in Huyton linked to multiple eruptions of violence figured as part of the investigation into the unsolved murder of an innocent man.
Adam Ellison, 29, was walking home from the pub with friends in the early hours of November 4, 2017, when the group encountered a gang of thugs in a pedestrianised area in Market Place, Prescot. An altercation occurred after a motorbike nearly crashed into them, and one of two men on a green and white Kawasaki KX 85 Big Wheel off-road bike lashed out with an unknown weapon causing devastating injuries to Adam's neck.
The killers rode away in the direction of a Tesco store on Sewell Street as friends and passers-by rushed to his aid. Despite the efforts of medical staff, he was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after 2am. Since his death, Adam's family have confirmed he had no involvement in crime or gang activity whatsoever, and it appears the tragedy followed a random encounter.
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Despite numerous media appeals from Merseyside Police and Adam's family, a BBC documentary about the case and a £24,000 reward for information, no-one has yet been charged over the killing, although 12 people have been arrested. Merseyside Police said nine of those will face no further action, while three remain under investigation.
In the years since the incident, it appears detectives have looked at youths linked to notorious Huyton street gangs in their efforts to solve Adam's senseless murder. An insight into part of the investigation was revealed as part of a Multi-Agency Learning Review, commissioned by Knowsley Safeguarding Children Partnership (KSCP), into a teenage boy given the alias 'Child Sam'.
The review, authored by Neil Bickley, was launched after Sam was violently attacked in the summer of 2019, leaving him needing surgery. It describes how Sam endured a difficult upbringing involving domestic violence, and had become associated with serious organised criminals. In 2017, then aged 15, he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Adam Ellison.
Mr Bickley wrote in the report: "Sam was undoubtedly at risk from criminal exploitation. He was not in full-time education, and appears to associate with others, including adults involved in serious and organised crime.
"He may also be involved in the supply of illegal drugs, including possible ‘county lines’ activity away from the area. He has been the victim of serious violence and is currently under investigation for a local murder. Police hold intelligence that supports his involvement in such activity, he is in fact believed to be a member of an organised crime group."
According to the review, Sam was a close friend of a Huyton youth also killed in 2017, by two men later convicted of manslaughter and firearms offences. The ECHO understands that is a reference to the death of 17-year-old James Meadows, known as 'Froggy'.
James was the pillion passenger on a motorbike when he was shot in the head by one of two men, who fired from inside a stolen black Mercedes car, driving on Lyme Cross Road, Huyton, on October 8 that year. Notorious gang thugs Dylan Westall, 29, and Michael Roberts 25, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, and each received a life sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in December 2019.
The jury had heard James was killed as part of an escalating feud between Westall and the family of one of James's friends, notorious gun-toting drug-dealer Rueben Murphy. Murphy, who was in prison for possession of a firearm at the time of James' death, himself received a life-sentence last month for the shooting murder of young dad Patrick Boyle on July 1, 2021, in Newway, Huyton.
The KSCP review stated that although Sam was close to James Meadows, he did not feature "significantly" during that investigation. However, the reviewers described Sam "suffering emotionally because of the trauma".
The review refers to another male being murdered a "short time" after the death of James, understood to be a reference to the death of Adam Ellison, and states there were "no evidential links" between the two killings. However, Sam was arrested on suspicion of Adam's murder and his home was raided, where items "linked to the supply of drugs" were recovered.
Sam was released under investigation but his arrest became "known in the community" and he struggled to remain in education. He described regularly abusing ketamine and cannabis to the Youth Offending Service (YOS), and his relationship with his mum was volatile, even involving threats of "extreme violence".
In the autumn of 2018, Sam was arrested outside Merseyside in the home of a "vulnerable drug user". According to the review: "He was with others from the area he resides, some were known to the police.
"It was believed they were involved in ‘county lines’ drug supply. He was released on bail with conditions not to enter the area of arrest. No criminal charges have followed this arrest."
The reviewer noted that Sam was also convicted of carrying a knife found in his possession after he was attacked in 2019, and he was given a Youth Referral Order. He refused to assist police with the investigation into the attack.
Merseyside Police said it was unable to confirm whether or not 'Child Sam' was one of the three suspects still under investigation or whether detectives had decided to take no further action against him.
In the early weeks of the investigation detectives said the killer's group were believed to have been in a five-vehicle convoy that included stolen vehicles. The pillion passenger on the suspect bike is also believed to have disembarked and looked through the window of the Old Mill pub, where Adam and his friends had visited earlier.
Detectives have also shared that they believe the Kawasaki bike was sold on after the murder and the offenders may have burned their clothes.
Since Adam's death, his family have set up the ADAM Foundation (Achieving Dreams and Memories), which campaigns against knife crime and supports community initiatives in Prescot. Speaking in December last year, his sister Joanne told the ECHO: "He's not gone from any natural causes, he's been taken from us and it's raw. It's more raw because when you lose people to other things you grieve, but we are still fighting for justice as well as grieving and it's hard."
Anyone with information can send a message to Merseyside Police on Twitter via @MerPolCC, or call 101, or leave information anonymously with the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org
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