IMAGE SOURCE,FAMILY HANDOUT Image caption,/BBC
Elle Edwards had been enjoying a festive drink when she was shot dead
The gunman who shot dead Elle Edwards outside a pub on Christmas Eve has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 48 years.
Ms Edwards was an innocent bystander when Connor Chapman opened fire with a sub-machine gun as he targeted two men in the culmination of a gang feud.
The beautician, 26, was enjoying a night out with friends when she was shot outside the Lighthouse in Wirral.
Chapman, 23, was found guilty of her murder at Liverpool Crown Court.
Members of her family shouted “goodbye lad”, “scumbag” and “rat” as he was taken down to the cells.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Goose told him: “What you did, Connor Chapman, was as wicked as it was shocking.
“You murdered Elle Edwards, bringing an end to her young life.”
He described Chapman as a “highly dangerous man” who carefully pre-meditated and planned the “revenge attack”.
“You spent the days afterwards removing or destroying evidence that would identify you as the gunman.”
Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, was jailed for nine years for helping Chapman burn out a stolen Mercedes used in the shooting.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Edwards’ mother Gaynor – who did not attend the hearing – said she “cannot accept” her daughter had gone.
“I still think she’ll come home,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how much I miss and love her.”
Ms Edwards’ older brother Connor said he had last spoken to his sister on the night she died.
“I was curious to know what the plans were going to be for Christmas day as Elle was going to be cooking Christmas dinner with mum for the first time, usually dad cooks,” he said.
