18 godzin temu
Four men have denied murdering a grandmother who was shot dead in her home on Merseyside. Jacqueline Rutter, 53, was shot in the chest at her property in Moreton, Wirral, at about 1am on October 30, 2022.
Simon Allen, 54, of no fixed address, James Byrne, 23, of no fixed address, Barrie Glynn, 46, of Westway in Heswall, and David Harrison, 58, of Old Meadow Road in Pensby, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday. All four defendants, appearing via videolink from three different prisons, pleaded not guilty to murder.
Weapons and arson charges denied
The defendants also denied possession of a nine millimetre pistol and ammunition with intent to endanger life. They further denied the arson of a stolen Vauxhall Insignia in connection with the case.
Anna McGinn, 26, of Frankby, Wirral, appeared in the dock and pleaded not guilty to two counts of assisting an offender. According to the charges, she allegedly drove Byrne and a second man, Preston Connolly, from Heswall to their home addresses on October 30, 2022.
Trial date set for October
Judge David Aubrey KC adjourned the case until a pre-trial hearing on September 8. A trial will take place on October 6, the court heard.
Ms Rutter was one of four female victims of gun crime in Merseyside in 2022. The other victims were nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Ashley Dale, 28, and Elle Edwards, 26, who was shot outside a pub in Wirral on Christmas Eve.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
