Tearful dad of Elle Edwards recalls trauma of identifying her after gun murder
The dad of murdered Elle Edwards has spoken of his heartbreak and his fears as gangs lure ever-younger children into a spiral of gun crime.
Tim Edwards, 52, wipes away tears as he tells for the first time of the trauma of identifying his 26-year-old daughter. The beautician was an innocent bystander gunned down outside a Merseyside pub on December 24 last year.
But as Tim faces a second Christmas Day without his beloved Elle, her death is compounded by the grooming of a new generation of gang gun runners. Local community groups will be telling kids of nine of the dangers of gang killers but may extend their warnings to children as young as five.
Tim says: “It’s terrifying to hear kids this young are being groomed, but it’s becoming more and more common. My grandson is four now. In a few years one of his friends could be one of these kids. The children being groomed into gangs now will be the ones using guns in the future.”
Elle Edwards with her dad TimThis is a horrific prospect for Tim who is still grief-stricken by his girl’s murder. He and Elle were supposed to be wrapping their Christmas presents together but instead she decided to go to the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village with her sister Lucy, 22.
Double killer who slit girlfriend's throat within weeks of release jailed
Connor Chapman, 23, armed with a Skorpion submachine gun, had been lying in wait at the pub for three hours for his intended targets, gang rivals Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy. Elle went outside for a cigarette and was sitting on a wall opposite Salkeld and Duffy, who she knew but who were not friends. The killer approached from the car park and sprayed 12 shots into the crowd.
Tim says: “I had to watch the CCTV of her getting shot before the trial. I’ll never unsee it. Elle was sat on the wall having a fag with her back to that piece of s***.
“The targets he was aiming at were standing in front of Elle and he just sprayed at them. Another six inches up or to the side and she’d still be alive.”
Tim sobs as he tells how he found out about her death. His son Connor, 30, woke him in the early hours of Christmas by banging on his door.
Elle Edwards was shot dead at The Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Merseyside, on Christmas year in 2022 (Liverpool Echo)
Connor Chapman has been jailed for life (Liverpool Echo)“I opened the door and Connor just said: ‘We have to go to the hospital, it’s Elle.’ When we got to Arrowe Park Hospital the surgeon said to me she’d passed away. He said she’d been shot in the head. They put us in a side room at the hospital and I just went ballistic. I smashed the wall up.
“We couldn’t see Elle so we went home to her mum’s home and I just went and slept in her bed. The day after I had to identify her. I got the chance to speak to her. That was my final goodbye. It was awful.” Tim was determined to get justice for Elle and found the strength to appear at a police press conference within days. He was wearing a Fleetwood Mac T-shirt, a band Ellie loved.
He says: “A couple of days before her death, on our last night together, me, Elle and Lucy had gone to Manchester Christmas markets and we ended up back at mine falling asleep listening to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. And she was singing it.”
Tim Edwards speaking to reporter Matthew Dresch in Liverpool City Centre (Julian Hamilton/Sunday Mirror)In July, Chapman was convicted of murder at Liverpool crown court and jailed for a minimum of 48 years. Tim, of Wallasey, called Skorpion guns, capable of firing 15 rounds a second, indiscriminate killing machines.
He says the gangs’ “gun of choice” has been used in at least three murders in Merseyside in the past year. He adds: “It’s sort of becoming the norm for kids to have guns. There’s always been gun violence in Merseyside.
“But when I was younger you would never hear about kids getting their hands on guns.” In the new year, community group Weapons Down Gloves Up will offer e-course schemes to nine-year-olds.
Killer dances in his victim's house with twerking model who later turned on him
The moment a gunman opened fire in a pub car park and killed Elle (Merseyside Police)Director Chris Nisbet is also considering going into Merseyside schools to warn pupils as young as five after a teacher told him she had seen kids that age being lured by gangs outside the gates. Tim slammed the Government for cutting youth services and neglecting communities, leaving kids vulnerable to gangs.
He says: “They haven’t got many options. They have nowhere to go. They want things and see the drugs trade as easy money.”
Gun crime is a nationwide problem. The number of gun offences rose from 570 in the first half of 2021 to 850 over the same period in 2022, Home Office figures reveal. The increase in London in that time was from nine to 237.
Tim talking to journalists after his daughter was killed (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne says: “As a country, there’s a massive lack of opportunity. Speaking to some youngsters, it feels there is an air of desolation with opportunities being denied them and that’s fertile ground for the criminals to offer money.” Tim has set up the Elle Edwards Foundation to support families who have lost loved ones to gun crime.
He is also urging parents to bar kids from video games that “glorify violence” such as Grand Theft Auto. The game’s maker did not comment. Tim has been in touch with the family of Ashley Dale, who was shot dead in her Liverpool home with a Skorpion last year. Four men have been jailed for her murder. Now Tim says he will walk in Scotland at Christmas as “it is not a cause for celebration for me any more”.
A Government spokesman said last year it increased core spending for local authorities by £5.1bn. They are legally oblig-ed to allocate some of this to youth services.
To donate to the Elle Edwards Foundation, visit gofundme.com/f/elles-army
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
