Dad killed on his own doorstep after customer's ominous prediction in the pub

12 December 2023 , 10:53

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Joey Peloe was shot dead after he answered his front door on December 28 2004 (Image: Martin Birchall)

A suspected revenge attack nearly two decades ago saw a dad was shot dead on his doorstep after one man ominously predicted he would "be gone by the end of the year".

The unsolved murder of 45-year-old Joey Peloe, which began with the sinister message in the pub, is still no closer to being solved as the investigation moves closer to the 20-year mark. The brazen shooting took place on Joey’s front doorstep on December 28, 2004 after he answered a knock at the door at his home on Little Heath Road, Speke, the Liverpool Echo reports.

He died in hospital the following day after managing to drag himself from the scene 100 yards down the road to Ganworth Road police station where an ambulance was called. Police charged two men with the murder in 2006 but a judge at Liverpool Crown Court directed the jury to find the pair not guilty after it emerged there was no evidence to connect either man with the unidentified gunman.

Jimmy and Sharon at the grave of their brother Joey Peloe at Allerton Cemetery - the family are stillwaiting for answers (Trinity Mirror NW2To use this image please contact Syndication 01514722589)

The case remains unsolved, with several loose ends yet to be resolved and Joey’s family still no closer to finding answers. Rumours persist of bad blood in the community following Joey's decision to take in a woman as a lodger following a bust-up with her boyfriend. A dispute had also emerged which resulted in youths throwing stones at Joey's windows, smashing the glass, leading to an altercation in the Noah's Ark pub. Locals said one man was heard to say soon after: "That Joey Peloe, he'll be gone by the end of the year."

In 2019, Joey's family said they believed the keen fisherman knew his killer, as he would not have answered the door at midnight to someone he did not know. Kevin Clague, Head of the Force Serious Crime Review Unit said “It is now 19 years since Joey Peloe was fatally shot when he answered the door to a lone gunman at his home in Little Heath Road in Speke. It is unimaginable that nearly two decades later his family have still not got the justice they rightly deserve.

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“We hope that people who still hold information but haven’t yet come forward can search their consciences and find the strength to come forward so that we can bring those responsible for Joey’s murder to justice. Nineteen years is a long time but it’s never too late for someone to come forward – if you have any information, please DM @MerPolCC, call 101 or contact @CrimestoppersUK anonymously via social media, by calling 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information.”

Wesley Holmes