A GANG member who was jailed for assisting the murderer of Elle Edwards could be released from prison under the government’s early release scheme.

Thomas Waring was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court of possessing a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping gunman Connor Chapman hide the gun and burn out the stolen Mercedes used in the shooting outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village on Christmas Eve 2022.

Chapman, 23, who opened fire with a Skorpion sub-machine gun towards the entrance of the pub and killed 26-year-old beautician Elle, who was an innocent bystander, was given a life sentence with a 48-year minimum term.

Waring, 20, of Private Drive in Barnston, was jailed for nine years but under the governments early release scheme he could be released after serving less than a third of his sentence.

The scheme is a stopgap measure introduced by the government to ease ethe pressure on the prison system. The policy allows certain criminals to be released from custody after serving 40% of their sentence in prison as opposed to 50%.

Elle’s father, Tim Edwards, appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning (November 13) where he shared his anger and devastation at the news that the man who helped the killer of his daughter could be released as early as April 2026 – meaning he will have served just two years and nine months.

Speaking on the show, he said: “It makes a mockery of the sentencing doesn’t it? As far as I can see when I received the letter, I was obviously shocked and very angry.

“He’s basically been put in the same category as a shoplifter so what kind of message are we sending? There’s no deterrent and if he’s going to be released to me it looks like it’s a reward for being a criminal.

“He’s assisted in a horrendous crime which is the murder of Elle and for someone to be released early for being involved in a crime such as that it doesn’t make sense.

“It goes against everything we’re trying to do we’re trying to make a difference to people’s attitudes and bring awareness around the consequences of serious violence and when the government make a decision like this where it goes everything we’re trying to do it’s very frustrating.

“He knows where that gun is. That gun has never been found. What’s to stop him coming out and going picking that gun back up and using it himself?

“It makes a hard job even harder not just for us but for the police, the CPS the judges and everyone else because it’s not deterring anyone.

“I do believe no one chooses to be a criminal or in a gang it ends up just being the path that they take.

“There’s no reason to get out of it if your punishment for getting caught is a couple of years in prison.”

When asked what he put in his letter to Prime Minister Kier Starmer, Tim added: “I’ve asked him for answers to justify the decision of the early release programme.

“My opinion is the government across the board at the moment is making decisions based on numbers and number crunching rather than the human side of things.

“I think personally that each individual case should be looked at for early release. I know that’s a massive undertaking but it’s important and if they can’t do that they shouldn’t do an early release programme because there are people who are going to slip through that net and unfortunately its going to come to a point where someone will reoffend and a horrendous crime will be committed and it will be because of the early release programme.

“As victims as families of victims you don’t get any input in the sentencing or the aftercare you get notified where the individual is and what category of prison they are in.

“I’d give him the same as the killer because he’s just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger so he should be punished accordingly.

“I made a vow to Elle that they will do every single day and that’s what I intend to do. I will go against he Ministry of Justice and the government and I won’t go away quietly until I make sure that happens.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Home Detention Curfews have been used for more than 20 years and only after a full risk assessment in 2026 will a decision be made on whether Thomas Waring is suitable for it. Anyone placed under it is subject to an overnight curfew to strict license conditions and tagging.”