A 22-year-old man, who is accused of murdering beautician Elle Edwards in a Merseyside pub on Christmas Eve, has pleaded not guilty.
Connor Chapman faces a total of nine offences in connection with the shooting at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral last year.
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A plea hearing was held today (6 April) at Liverpool Crown Court for the murder of the 26-year-old.
Edwards was not believed to have been the intended target of the attack, which also resulted in four men being injured.
Chapman, who has no fixed address, has also been charged with possessing a converted Scorpion sub-machine gun and ammunition with intent to endanger life which he denied.
Chapman also faces counts against him for the attempted murder of Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld and the unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm of Harry Loughran, Nicholas Speed and Liam Carr. He pleaded not guilty to all these charges.
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He has been charged with handling stolen good, a Mercedes A Class, between 22-26 December 2022, which he denied.
Edwards' father, Tim Edwards, opened up about his 'beautiful and caring' daughter and the impact of her loss ahead of her funeral which took place in January.
"She's the type of person that would walk into the room and everyone would gravitate towards her because she was always smiling," he told Sky News.
"She was beautiful looking and she was a great hugger. She was just a fantastic human being with a heart of gold."
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He said the month between her unexpected death and funeral had been a 'struggle' as the family has tried to adjust to life without her.
"Time moves so quick," Tim said. "In our situation with the developments, Christmas Day didn't mean anything, that had gone. It didn't feel real and Christmas will never be the same. Christmas will never be a point of celebration for me, ever."
More than £13,000 was raised in less than a day for Edwards' family after the shooting.
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Witnesses at the pub tried desperately to save her using CPR after Edwards was shot. The Mirror reported members of the public rushed to try and save Elle's life.
Taking to Facebook, local residents described the moment the shooting happened and shared horrific details as well as the moments of heroism from the people nearby who tried to help.
One woman wrote: "This is just so tragic. My daughter was there giving CPR with another girl until help arrived. My heart goes out to the families."
A further pre-trial hearing is to be held on 15 May.
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A provisional trial date was set for 12 June and the case is expected to last three to four weeks.
Featured Image Credit: PA/Alamy Family Handout