Intended targets of attempted gang hit that killed Elle Edwards banned from Wirral estates

Two gang members who were the intended targets of a shooting which claimed the life of Elle Edwards have been banned from their home estates in the Wirral.

Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy were standing outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey Village, on Christmas Eve 2022 when Connor Chapman, 23, fired 12 shots from a Skorpion sub-machine gun.

Both men were wounded but dental nurse and beautician Elle, 26, was struck twice in the back of the head and died almost instantly.

Chapman was convicted of Elle's murder and the attempted murders of Salkeld, 29, and Duffy, 26, after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court and jailed for life with a minimum term of 48 years in prison.

During Chapman's trial it emerged that the shooting was the "culmination" of an escalating feud between his gang located around the Woodchurch estate, and Salkeld and Duffy's, based in the Beechwood/Ford estate on the opposite side of the M53.

Salkeld and Duffy who are both currently serving jail sentences for chasing and attacking a man in Rock Ferry the day before the shooting that killed Elle.

During Chapman's trial it was suggested that the Rock ferry assault may have been the final trigger for the attempt to kill Salkeld and Duffy.

The pair had been recorded kicking, punching and stamping on their helpless victim for around a minute.

The pair have now been given a gang injunction which prevents them from entering the Woodchurch or Beechwood/Ford Estates, any on-licensed premises on Conway Street or Argyle Street in Birkenhead and entering The Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey.

Merseyside Police said it is "proactively targeting gang-related activity" in the Birkenhead area and recently launched EVOLVE Wirral, a Home Office-based initiative designed to help and regenerate areas worst affected by serious and organised crime.

Chief Inspector Tom Welch, one of the senior officers involved in EVOLVE Wirral, said: “Gang-related activity has a profoundly detrimental effect on those who live or work in areas where these criminals carry out their business, often recklessly with complete disregard for others.

“The gang injunctions that have been served on Duffy and Salkeld are part of the ongoing and relentless work we are doing to combat serious and organised crime in Birkenhead. The prohibitions detailed in these injunctions are widely known by our local officers and will be policed rigorously.

“If either man commits a breach, we can act quickly to arrest them and put them back before the courts, which can result in prison sentences.

As Letby becomes the most prolific serial child killer in modern Britain, we look at how she managed to slip under the radar for so long, carrying out her attacks unchallenged for a year in the latest episode of From the North