Elle Edwards: Christmas shooting victim had happy life, vicar says

The funeral of a woman who was shot on Christmas Eve will be a celebration of her life and ensure “she’s not defined by what happened”, a vicar has said.

Elle Edwards died after a gunman opened fire at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral, on 24 December.

The 26-year-old was not the intended target and four men were also injured.

Reverend Jeff Staples said a service at Wallasey’s St Nicholas’s Church later would show she “laughed and joked and enjoyed all the things of life”.

Connor Chapman, 22, has been charged with murdering Ms Edwards and is due to go on trial on 7 June.

Mr Staples, who will lead the service, told BBC Radio Merseyside that it would be an opportunity to celebrate the beautician’s life.

“People will be sad coming to the service, but part of the aim… is to say ‘well, actually Elle’s life wasn’t a sad life, it was a good life, it was a happy life, it was a full life’,” he said.

“She laughed and joked and enjoyed all the things of life.

“That’s what we need to communicate so that she’s not defined by what happened.”