'Kick in the teeth': Father of pub shooting victim Elle Edwards slams prison release scheme that could see killer's accomplice freed
Tim Edwards told LBC it is 'devastating' to know a man involved in the shooting of his daughter could be released from prison in October.
The father of pub shooting victim Elle Edwards has branded the decision on the early release scheme a “kick in the teeth” amid fears the man who assisted his daughter's killer could be freed from jail in just two months.
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Tim Edwards' daughter Elle Edwards, 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 Christmas Eve in 2022.
In 2023, Thomas Waring was sentenced to nine years for for possession of a prohibited weapon, assisting an offender and failing to comply with a disclosure notice in connection with the murder.
Speaking to LBC today, Mr Edwards said he believed Waring would be released in October this year due to the Government's early release scheme, describing the announcement as a "kick in the teeth".
Mr Edwards said: “For people like us, especially in our case with Elle’s case, the person who assisted in her murder fits the criteria for early release.
"It’s like a kick in the teeth.
“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.”
He also said he spoke to a victim liaison officer from the Probation Service on Monday who told him there would be no change with the early release in Waring’s case.
Mr Edwards added: “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.
“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.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard Chapman, who was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 48 years, went to Waring’s house following the shooting and asked him to look after the weapon used in the killing.
Mr Edwards has suggested Waring knew where the murder weapon that killed his daughter was.
He said: “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?”
It comes as a change has been made to the scheme to free up space in prisons. Criminals who committed rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences are being excluded from the early release scheme.
However, people guilty of manslaughter are still eligible for earlier release.
This includes two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper, who died in 2019 when he was dragged by a car down a country road.
Justice Secetary Alex Norris appeared on LBC this morning, where he was grilled by Nick Ferrari, who said the government's claim to be putting victims first was clearly "risible."
Defending the plans, he told Nick: "It's the circumstances we are in - in order to make sure we have a functioning prison system."
Nick raised the issue of a killer of PC Harper being told he was eligible for release before the victim's mother.
He said: "This idea you put victims first... it's risible. You're not. Victims don't know until they read it in the paper or they get phoned by LBC."
Defending who should be eligible, Mr Norris said: “We chose rapists, we chose child sex offenders, but we haven't been able to, we would like to have gone further exactly as I say, but Nick, I'm saying were we to do so, we would be in a world where we weren't arresting anybody, weren't imprisoning anybody because there's no capacity. That would not be right.”
PC Andrew Harper's widow reacted furiously after it was revealed that two of her husband's killers will still be eligible for early release from October.
Lissie Harper, who is now a campaigner on behalf of victims' families, told LBC that she was "disgusted" and "beyond appalled" at the revelation that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were still set to be released.
She said: "I am beyond appalled and bristling with anger to hear that Andrew's killers are soon to be free to roam the streets."What abhorrent message does this send? How dare Ministers say the killing of a police officer is not enough of a 'sickening crime' that deserves the stiffest of punishments.
"The level of disrespect the Government are showing to Andrew and other victims - and to their loved ones such as me - is beyond contempt."The outspoken widow called the refusal to keep Cole and Bowers behind bars "an absolute betrayal" by Burnham's government, adding "they are meant to be on our side".
Mrs Harper said: "The killers of Andrew have shown no remorse... they robbed us of our future. They are vile criminals, and they should remain in jail.
"To release them early from their already pitiful sentences is an affront to justice. The Government and the justice system have not just let me down... they have added insult to injury. They are meant to be on our side.
"This is an utter betrayal - and it's one I will not be able to forgive or forget."
The Sentencing Act, which will replace repeated batches of early releases of prisoners as has been done in the past, was due to be implemented in September, but has been delayed by at least a month until October.
The government says the postponement will give probation officers more time to plan for releases and allow victims to have a say in the restrictions placed on offenders.
Even with the changes, it is expected that prison spots may reach full capacity again in spring next year.