Four people deny assisting gunman who murdered Elle Edwards in Wallasey

Four people - two men and two women - have denied assisting the gunman who killed Elle Edwards on Christmas Eve 2022.

Four people have denied assisting the gunman who murdered Elle Edwards outside a pub on Christmas Eve in 2022.

Connor Chapman, 23, was found guilty of murdering the 26-year-old when he fired a Skorpion submachine gun outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, shortly before midnight.

David Chambers 42, Danielle Dowdall, 34, Paul Owen, 54, and Roxanne Matthews, 33, entered not guilty pleas when they appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, 12 February 2024, charged with assisting an offender.

Matthews, of Noctorum, Wirral, who also uses the surname Rooney, will stand trial charged with two counts of assisting an offender by hiring a Volkswagen T-Cross and booking a lodge in Wales to be used by Chapman.

Connor Chapman was convicted of Elle's murder after a three-and-a-half week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. Credit: Merseyside Police

Chambers, of no fixed address, is charged with assisting Chapman by arranging for the hire of the Volkswagen T-Cross car.

Dowdall, of Woodchurch, Wirral, is alleged to have disposed of clothes worn by Chapman, and Owen, also of Woodchurch, is accused of assisting in disposing of a Mercedes A-Class car used by Chapman in the shooting.

Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC set a trial date for 2 September 2024, with the case estimated to last three to four weeks.

The defendants were given conditional bail ahead of a pre-trial hearing on 3 June 2024.

Chapman was jailed for a minimum of 48 years for the shooting, of which Ms Edwards was not the intended target.