A murder suspect has had his “teeth knocked out” in prison after naming his co-defendant as the gunman.
Connor Walsh is one of three men on trial for the murder of Rikki Berry. Walsh has been in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court along with Adam Williams and Michael Smith.
Mr Berry also known as “Nuggy” was gunned down outside his girlfriend’s house in Quarryside Drive in the Kirkby area of Liverpool on July 17 last year. As the Liverpool Echo reports, a balaclava-clad assailant shot Mr Berry three times causing his death.
Smith admits being the gunman but claims that “his intention was simply to frighten Mr Berry”, while Williams and Walsh are alleged to have performed a “reconnaissance mission” on the address in advance of the attack before travelling in convoy alongside the shooter inside a black SUV during the drive-by.
Walsh told the court yesterday, Wednesday that after he gave a statement naming Smith as the gunman he had his teeth knocked out by fellow cons.
Walsh accepts being carried in the back of the car at the time that the shots were fired.
The latter gave his evidence to a jury of eight men and four women yesterday, Wednesday. He accepts being carried in the back of the car at the time that the shots were fired, while his DNA was also discovered on a bullet casing recovered from the scene of the shooting and the magazine of the firearm.
Under questioning from defence counsel Nick Johnson KC, Walsh was asked about his phone contact with Williams the day after the shooting. He replied: “[It was about] just the same stuff as the day before. What we were going to do and why did he do it, were we going to talk to the police.”
When asked “what they decided” in this regard, Walsh continued: “No. If you become a grass in Kirkby, there’s consequences.”
He reported that his “mood at this time” was “still in panic” and “scared”, adding: “I was wondering whether to go to the police or not. I was still in two minds whether to go or not.”
On July 19, there was then a string of contact between Walsh and the phone of Smith’s girlfriend. He reported that he had been speaking to the trigger man during these conversations, telling the court: “Basically, he was saying he didn’t mean to do it and he’s sorry. I don’t want to be going down for murder, keep your mouth shut. You don’t want to be known as a grass in this area. I took that as a threat.”
When Mr Johnson asked “what he said that he took as a threat”, Walsh added: “Just that you can’t be known as a grass in Kirkby. You know what will happen.”
He meanwhile said that a 22-second call that same evening was “about a jacket that he left in the back garden” before travelling to the scene of the shooting, adding: “He left a coat in the back garden. I weren’t aware of that. I didn’t see that.”
The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC, who is presiding over the case, asked him at this stage whether he had “wondered why he had set off from your house to carry out a shooting and left a jacket behind”. Walsh replied: “No, I didn’t think nothing of it.”
When it was put to him that this “might implicate him”, he added: “I didn’t ask him about it. I did ask him why he did it. He didn’t mean to kill him. I was a bit scared.”
Walsh then dropped the phone number he had been using at the time on the evening of July 23, saying of this: “I just wanted to get rid of it. I wanted to distance myself away from the situation. I kept hold of the handset. I just got rid of [the SIM card], just disposed it into the bin.”
He meanwhile said that another phone call with Smith’s partner’s phone the following morning was “just to say I wouldn’t open my mouth”. Walsh told the jury: “I was scared of the repercussions of what would come out of it if I became a grass.”
The defendant conceded that he was “telling lies” during his subsequent interviews with detectives after he handed himself in at Copy Lane Police Station on July 31, saying of this: “You don’t wanna be named as a grass in Kirkby. I was scared what could have happened.”
Mr Johnson asked him: “How do you feel now about being a man with no previous convictions, working as a labourer to getting involved in the drugs business and lying to the police.”
Walsh replied “ashamed”. When asked “how he got himself into this situation”, he responded: “Bad drug habit. Cocaine.”
It was subsequently put to him during a second set of interviews on August 7 that his DNA had been recovered from the bullet casing. Walsh said of his silence under questioning at this time: “I was shocked. I’ve never seen or handled any bullets. Never in my life.”
Mr Johnson then referenced the defence statement, a document in which a defendant is required to set out their case in advance of a trial, which he had submitted in November 2024. He claimed at this time that he “hadn’t seen the electric bike and didn’t know who the gunman was”. And Walsh said of this: “They were lies. Just the same. The repercussions of being a grass.”
The defence silk stated that “further DNA evidence” concerning the magazine was then served during the course of the trial. Mr Johnson said: “Last Monday, the 27th of January, you served a new defence statement on the court. Why did you serve that?”
Walsh replied: “Further DNA come on the magazine of the gun. It was time to tell the truth. I had no involvement in it. I was getting caught up in this.”
Mr Johnson continued: “In that second defence statement, you said that you believed that the gunman was Michael Smith, didn’t you? That night, back in prison, did anything unusual happen?”
Walsh said: “Lads on the wing found out about the statement. I had my teeth knocked out and a black eye.”
He added that he was “scared” after being asked “what his reaction to being beaten up like that was”. Mr Johnson further asked him “what his feeling about that is now”, at which he again said: “Scared.”
Walsh went on to tell the court when questioned by Smith’s counsel Michael Brady KC that he is currently in custody at Walton prison, with his co-defendant being held in HMP Altcourse on remand. David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, meanwhile put to him in cross-examination: “During the course of this case, you’ve teamed up with Adam Williams. Haven’t you?
“On Monday, the 27th of January, for the first time, you labelled him the shooter. Michael Smith. On Wednesday, the 29th of January, Adam Williams labels Michael Smith the shooter. Did you and him get your heads together?”
But Walsh replied: “No. There was more DNA on the gun. I thought it was the right thing to grass now, regardless of repercussions.”
Mr McLachlan continued: “The truth is, Mr Walsh, that you are a liar. You will lie as best as you can to get yourself out of this situation. And you’re going to try and blame him.”
Walsh, who wore a black suit and tie in the witness box and sported short dark hair, replied: “No. I’m a liar that I lied in my interview and on the defence, yes. I’m blaming him now, yeah.”
Mr McLachlan meanwhile asked what his response had been after Smith told him during the phone call that he “didn’t mean to do it”. Walsh said: “F***ing hell lad, he’s dead. What did you expect? You’re gonna have to hand yourself in or something. He said you cant tell no one, you cant be a grass in Kirkby.”
“I wanted to get off the phone as fast as I could, to be honest with you. I didn’t want to be involved in it.”
When Mr McLachlan put to him that he “was involved in it”, Walsh responded “I played no part in Rikki Berry’s death at all”. Further asked whether “all three of you together were involved in the shooting of Rikki Berry”, he said: “No.”
Under re-examination by Mr Johnson, Walsh reported that he had been kept “separately” from his co-defendants at court and in prison since lodging his revised defence statement. He added: “It had nothing to do with Williams or Smith that I got hit.”
All three defendants deny murder and possession of a prohibited weapon with intent to endanger life. Smith, aged 25 and of Marbury Road, pleaded guilty to the lesser offences of manslaughter and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence on Tuesday.
Williams, aged 26 and of Hamblett Crescent in St Helens, and Walsh, also 26 and of Simonswood Lane, have also pleaded not guilty to the charges of manslaughter and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The trial continues.
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