Shooting vicitim Elle Edwards' dad speaks out as man involved in her murder set to be released early
The father of Elle Edwards, a beautician who was shot outside a pub in Merseyside on Christmas Eve 2022, has hit out at the government’s prison early release scheme.
He said that it’s a ‘massive kick in the teeth’ that a man who assisted his daughter's murderer will reportedly be eligible for release in October.
Elle, 26, was killed by gunman Connor Chapman, who fired a Skorpion sub-machine gun into a group of people outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village in Wirral, Merseyside, on 24 December 2022.
In July 2023, he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 48 years.
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Thomas Waring was also jailed for nine years after he was found guilty of possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping Chapman burn out the stolen Mercedes used in the shooting.
However, he could only serve part of this sentence, as Elle’s father Tim Edwards said he had been told Waring would be released in October this year.
He said: “I did write to Andy Burnham last week, and I asked him to just look at the criteria that people are going to be under or fit to get the early release, and there was no response.
“Obviously the reason why was because they were never going to change it.”
The father continued: “I put that more on the Ministry of Justice because they just won’t change, they don’t want to change, they’re all about number crunching.”
Edwards claims that he spoke to a victim liaison officer from the Probation Service on Monday (3 August), who told him there would be no change with the early release in Waring’s case, although rapists and child sex offenders have been made exempt from the scheme.
He urged: “It just shows that the families, the victims, don’t get a say in any of this. It just shows they don’t care. It’s devastating to take.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Chapman went to Waring’s house following the shooting and asked him to look after the weapon used in the attack.
Edwards continued: “The gun has never been found. That gun is still out there. So what’s to stop him coming out and picking that gun up again, there’s nothing to stop him doing that, is there?”
What is The Sentencing Act?
The scheme was initiated under the previous UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer administration to ease prison overcrowding.
As per the BBC, it meant that from September, some prisoners could be freed after serving a third of their total custodial sentence rather than 40 percent or 50 percent of their term.
However, Burnham’s government has since pushed it back to October and announced on Tuesday (4 August) that exclusions would be made.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published a list of offences which are excluded, outlining that the Sentencing Act's early prison release plan only applies to offenders serving standard determinate sentences.
In the wake of Burnham’s review of the policy, rapists and criminals sentenced for child sex offences and grooming are excluded and will not be able to leave prison early.
The prime minister said: “Keeping the public safe is my top priority. That’s why I asked for an urgent review of the prisoner release scheme. I fully understand the anger, anxiety and distress that’s been caused. I’ve heard that loud and clear. That’s why we’re making significant changes: offenders who have been sentenced for rape, serious child sex offences and other grooming offences will be excluded from the changes.
“I want to be honest - I wanted to go even further as I know there will still be concerns about other offenders having their sentence shortened. But it’s not possible without the prison system reaching capacity and collapsing, which would put public safety at much greater risk. That’s why we will also be introducing much tougher community measures. There will be a presumption that all offenders are tagged, longer periods of supervision and tough new rules, including restriction zones for offenders.
“As a country, we haven’t invested in the prison estate when we should have, going back over a decade. This has created an unacceptable situation, with our adult male prisons now at 98 per cent capacity. For too long, the problems facing our prison system have been ignored – and it’s the victims who have been paying the price. That is not good enough. My government will deliver the fastest prison building programme since the Victorian era and do what’s necessary to fix the prison crisis.”
Madison Burgess