Four men deny murder of grandmother

Four men have denied the murder of a grandmother who was shot in her home.

Jacqueline Rutter, 53, was shot in the chest in in Moreton, Wirral, Merseyside, 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, appearing over videolink from three different prisons, pleaded not guilty to murder.

The defendants also denied possession of a nine millimetre pistol and ammunition with intent to endanger life and the arson of a stolen Vauxhall Insignia.

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 is alleged to have driven Byrne and a second man, Preston Connolly, from Heswall to their home addresses on October 30 2022.

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, with nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Ashley Dale, 28, and Elle Edwards, 26, who was shot outside a pub in Wirral on Christmas Eve.