Man accused of helping Elle Edwards' killer Connor Chapman says he was 'fuming' after he 'scratched his Mercedes'

A dad accused of assisting an offender after the fatal shooting of Elle Edwards on Merseyside has told a jury he was "fuming" after her killer Connor Chapman scratched his Mercedes.

The 26-year-old beautician died after being shot outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Wirral, on Christmas Eve 2022. In July last year Chapman was convicted of her murder and was later told he must serve a minimum term of 48 years after being jailed for life.

At Liverpool Crown Court, two men and two men are currently on trial accused of assisting an offender in connection with the fatal shooting.

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David Chambers, Danielle Dowdall, Roxanne Matthews and Paul Owen all deny the respective charges against them. Mr Owen, 55, began giving evidence to a jury of eight men and four women on Friday, the Liverpool Echo reports.

According to the prosecution, he lent his Mercedes GLC to Chapman in order to enable the killer to travel in convoy to a rural site on the outskirts of Frodsham on New Year's Eve, where the stolen Mercedes A-Class which was used in the murder was burnt out.

But Owen claims that he had merely asked the gunman, his drug dealer who he knew only as "Curly", to drive his car back to his home when he was out drinking in the Horse and Jockey pub in Upton on December 31 2022 and was not aware of him having any involvement in the shooting.

His counsel Christopher Stables yesterday asked him about a series of messages on New Year's Day, including one in which he told Chapman "not too late with car as need to go shopping". The two men then spoke on the phone at around 1.30pm, after which he collected his car from near to the murderer's house on Houghton Road in Woodchurch.

Owen said of this exchange: "I've messaged him at 9.36am. I've just said, 'yes mate, are you ok?' at this point. Then I've put, at 10.49am, 'not too late with the car as I need to go shopping'."

"I'm worrying at this point. I've noticed the car hadn't been delivered outside my house as planned previously. Then I've tried to call him. Clearly, I still haven't got my car. He's returned the call almost instantly and explained to me where I can find the car."

When asked why Chapman had left the car at this location, Owen replied: "He had difficulty getting back onto the estate because there was a high police presence. There was a high police presence all over the estate. The police were under the impression there would be reprisals between the Ford and the Woodchurch estates."

Owen said he had used the spare key to collect his Mercedes before Chapman returned the key he had used by posting it through his letterbox. Of finding his vehicle, he told jurors: "I noticed two things."

"Firstly, there was a slight scratch on the front left of the car. Secondly, there was a set of jump leads, which I found very strange, in the back passenger footwell. I took them out and put them in my shed, waiting to give them him back."

Mr Stables put to him that he was "keen to tell the police about the jump leads" when he was later interviewed by detectives. Owen said of this: "They were not my jump leads and I thought I'd be assisting them by telling them there would be fingerprints on the jump leads of the people who had been in the car."

He similarly said of his car's satellite navigation system: "It's got a tracker and a sat nav. They might have used it. There would also be fingerprints on it." When Mr Stables asked whether he was "trying to impede the police investigation", Owen said: "Definitely not. I was assisting them."

Owen was then questioned about a call lasting two minutes and three seconds with Chapman on January 2. He told the court: "I discussed the jump leads, which he said he didn't want back. We also discussed the scratch, 'cos I was fuming."

"He said he was willing to pay to get it repaired. I T-Cut it out. There was no need for him to pay to get it repaired. It's a chemical formula that will buff it out. You can put it on a rag and apply it to the surface. This will get rid of minor scratches."

Dowdall, aged 34 and of Woodchurch, denies one charge of assisting an offender. Matthews, also 34 and of Noctorum, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of the same offence.

Chambers, aged 43 and of no fixed address, denies two charges of assisting an offender while 55-year-old Owen, of Woodchurch, has pleaded not guilty to one count. The trial, before Mr Justice Morris, continues.