A court has heard how a teenager was killed “in a targeted and planned attack” after he was “perceived to overstep the mark” as he attempted to recover a modest debt.
Nyle Corrigan, 19, was fatally shot in the back when two gunmen waited for him by the side of Boode Croft in Stockbridge Village, Merseyside. Six people have gone on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged in connection with the murder, which happened at around 6.30pm on November 12, 2020.
Jamie Coggins, 28, Martin Wilson, 37, Connor Smith, 26, and Anthony Llewellyn, 25 are all accused of murder and conspiracy to possess a 9mm Glock self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life. Melanie Smith, 47, and Mark Sharpe, 49, – the parents of Connor Smith – are accused of assisting an offender.
As reported by the Echo, they allegedly helped their son travel from Liverpool to Portsmouth on November 26, 2020, two weeks after the shooting. During the trial’s opening this morning, November 5, prosecutor Richard Wright KC told the jury that two gunmen, “wearing gloves and masks and with their hoods pulled up”, armed themselves with a 9mm Glock handgun and waited for Mr Corrigan who was riding his electric bike.
Mr Wright told the court that the two gunmen “called out” to Mr Corrigan before they shot him once in the back. The court heard the bullet went through his spine and passed through his body causing “catastrophic damage”. Mr Wright said further words were exchanged but no further shot was discharged due to a defect in the handgun. He said: “Nyle managed to stagger down the line of some houses but then collapsed where he would go on to die.”
Mr Wright told the jury of six men and six women: “Whilst two men carried out the physical act of stalking and shooting of Nyle Corrigan, we suggest that the shooters were part of a wider team, a team that was in place to assist them to both carry out the shooting, and then to try to get away with it.
“Who then do the prosecution say formed the team who acting together sourced a firearm and ammunition, discovered the whereabouts of their target that evening, got themselves into position to carry out the shooting, and got themselves away in the aftermath, disposing of the weapon, their clothing and anything else that might incriminate them in this murder?”
Mr Wright told the court that the prosecution’s case was that Wilson and Connor Smith were the gunmen who carried out the shooting but were supported by Coggins and Llewelyn “who were both fully signed up to the plan”. The prosecutor said: “Together, we say, those four men are all responsible for his murder.”
Mr Corrigan lived on Little Moss Hey with his mum, Lesley Kelly and his sister Amelia Corrigan. His grandfather Leslie and brother Rory lived on the same road at a separate address. Mr Wright told the jury: “It’s clear from messages recovered from mobile phones, social media and other evidence that at the time Mr Corrigan died he was a user of cannabis but he also sold drugs in the local area of Stockbridge Village. That background may have played a part in the events that led to his murder.”
The jury heard “the origins of the dispute lie with a man called Liam Cohen”. Mr Wright said Mr Cohen also lived on Little Moss Hey with his partner Kayleigh Donnelly and had previously been on good terms with Mr Corrigan but the relationship “had soured” because of an unpaid debt.
The court heard messages suggested Mr Cohen owed Mr Corrigan £60, while Wilson, a distant relative of the former, also owed £20. The jury heard messages that showed firstly Ms Kelly, using her daughter’s Facebook account, and later Mr Corrigan himself attempting to retrieve the unpaid money.
Mr Wright said this culminated on November 9 when Mr Corrigan sent Ms Donnelly a message that said: “It’s you with the attitude you cheeky c***. I’m texting you because all he does is blank, tell him I want the dough tomorrow.”
Mr Wright told the jury Mr Cohen sent a message to Wilson and said: “Ring me lad, need you to come down Lesley with me, the cheeky c*** calling Kay and that.” Mr Wright said the “minor debt” had escalated and an “irritated” Mr Cohen had “brought in” Wilson.
The prosecutor told the jury on November 11 “a team of men gathered around Martin Wilson and travelled to Little Moss Hey”. The court heard that shortly after 9pm Ms Kelly and her daughter Ms Corrigan were at home when an Audi 4×4 pulled up at their house and a number of men, “wearing balaclavas and face coverings”, demanded to know where Mr Corrigan was.
Mr Wright told the court the group said “Nyle was dead”, and when Ms Corrigan left to go to her granddad’s house they followed her in the car and shouted her brother “should not start something if he wasn’t going to finish it”.
Mr Wright said: “Although the dispute seems to have begun over a modest debt it has ballooned as a result of Nyle Corrigan having been perceived to overstep the mark in his efforts to recover the money. The prosecution say that Martin Wilson in particular appeared to have been incensed and was now leading efforts to teach Nyle Corrigan a lesson.”
Coggins, of The Spinney, Stockbridge Village; Llewellyn, formally of Olivette Way, St Helens; Smith of Midway Road in Huyton; Wilson, of no fixed address; and Melanie Smith and Mark Sharpe, both also of Midway Road, deny the charges before them. The trial before Mr Justice Goose continues.
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