A GUNMAN who killed a beautician when he opened fire outside a pub on Christmas Eve will be sentenced today for her murder.

Connor Chapman, 23, was convicted on Thursday after a three-and-a-half week trial at Liverpool Crown Court of the murder of Elle Edwards, 26, who was killed outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village in Wirral, Merseyside, on December 24 last year.

He injured five other people, including his targets Jake Duffy and Kieran Salkeld, when he fired 12 shots from the Skorpion sub-machine gun before driving away from the scene in a stolen Mercedes.

Mr Justice Goose told the court he would consider imposing a whole life order.

The jury also convicted Chapman of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, as well as possession of a Skorpion sub-machine gun with intent to endanger life and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

He pleaded guilty before the trial to a charge of handling stolen goods and admitted going to burn out the car used in the shooting on December 31.

Co-defendant Thomas Waring, 20, whose house Chapman went to following the shooting, was convicted of possession of a prohibited firearm and assisting an offender, by helping to burn out the Mercedes.

He pleaded guilty before trial to a charge of failing to comply with a disclosure notice.

Speaking outside court after the verdicts, Ms Edwards’ father Tim said: “Those two cowards in there decided to drag it out for four weeks, put all these people through that and everyone else around it, involved in the case. I can’t thank the police enough for what they did and we got there in the end, the right result.

“I hope them two never see another Christmas again ever in their lives.”