A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of Elle Edwards, who died following a shooting at a pub on Christmas Eve.
Connor Chapman, 22, appeared at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning and was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
As well as murder, he was charged with two counts of attempted murder, of Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, and three counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, of Harry Loughran, Nicholas Speed and Liam Carr.
He was also charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, relating to a converted Skorpion sub-machine gun, and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life.
Connor Chapman, 22, arrived at Wirral Magistrates Court this morning in a prison van accompanied by unmarked police cars
Elle Edwards, 26, (pictured) was killed on December 24 at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village near Liverpool
A prison van thought to be carrying Chapman arrives at Wirral Magistrates Court today
All counts were alleged to have happened on December 24 last year at the Lighthouse in Wallasey Village, Wirral.
Chapman, wearing a grey tracksuit and with long hair, was also charged with handling stolen goods, a Mercedes A Class car, between December 22 and 26 last year.
He spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and said he was of no fixed address.
The hearing, attended by a dozen members of the press, lasted about three minutes.
Ms Edwards, a 26-year-old beautician, was fatally shot at the Lighthouse pub shortly before midnight on December 24.
She is not believed to have been the intended target of the attack. A 23-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender was released on bail pending further inquiries, Merseyside Police said on Friday.
Three other people were previously arrested in connection with the murder.
Police have said the young beautician was not the intended target of the gunfire, which was understood to have been fired as part of a revenge hit gone wrong
Flowers and tribute messages were left outside the Lighthouse Inn following the shooting on Christmas Eve
A 31-year-old man from Tranmere, Wirral, and a 19-year-old woman from Rock Ferry, Wirral, were held on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and bailed pending further inquiries.
A 30-year-old man from Tranmere, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, was recalled to prison on licence.
At the inquest on January 5 at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool, coroner Anita Bhardwaj said: ‘This is such a tragic death of a beautiful young woman who clearly had a bright future ahead of her and so much to offer both in her career as well as personally.
‘We all appreciate, I think, as parents, nothing can prepare us for the death of a child in any way, shape or form and I think we can only imagine what the parents and family are going through.’
Floral tributes are left outside the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey Village, near Liverpool, on Boxing Day
Ms Edwards, whose occupation was given as dental nurse/beautician, was pronounced dead at Arrowe Park Hospital on Christmas Day after being taken there from the pub.
Ms Bhardwaj said: ‘Others were also shot at that location but sadly Elle was the one that lost her life.’
A provisional cause of death was given as gunshot wounds to the head.
Ms Bhardwaj said she would release Ms Edwards’ body to her family.
Toxicology analysis would be carried out before a full post-mortem report, she said.
The inquest was adjourned to May 5, when Ms Bhardwaj said there would be an update on the police investigation.
Elle Edwards father, Tim Edwards, during a press conference at Merseyside Police Headquarters in Liverpool about the Christmas Eve shooting of his daughter
The victim’s father Tim paid tribute to her by saying: ‘We will love and miss her forever. Our Elle May, the most beautiful and bright star out there, forever and always. My beautiful Elle Marlene is the love of my life and she is my world, my best friend. She will always shine and be beautiful and bright’.
Her younger sister Lucy Edwards, wrote an emotional tribute on social media, which said: ‘I should not be waking up this morning on New Year’s Day without you.’
Taking to Instagram to share a reel of photos and videos of her sister, Lucy wrote: ‘I miss you so much sis. Elle May you are and will always be my best friend, side kick, partner in crime, soul mate and big sister.
‘You are beautiful inside and out, you are the kindest person ever and you wanted nothing but the best for me.
‘I miss everything about you, especially our daily catch ups, our long drives, we’d blast the music and sing so loud that people in traffic would be laughing at us, but we were always in our own bubble and we didn’t care.’