Simon Allen is one of three men who were yesterday found guilty of the murder of Jackie Rutter
Simon Allen is one of three men who were yesterday found guilty of the murder of Jackie Rutter
A killer who plotted to shoot a nan dead is a convicted paedophile, the ECHO can reveal. Simon Allen is one of three men who were yesterday convicted of the murder of Jackie Rutter, who was shot on the doorstep of her own home on Meadowbrook Road in Moreton, Wirral, in October 2022.
James Byrne, Barrie Glynn and David Harrison have also been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court over the past three months accused of her murder. The prosecution’s case alleged that the shooting was motivated by an apparent “robbery” or “taxing”, in which Ms Rutter’s sons Peter and Steven reportedly stole a mobile phone which Byrne and another man, Preston Connolly, had been using to conduct their drug dealing business as part of the “JJ Line”.
These two men were then said to have carried out the shooting the following day as Glynn acted as their getaway driver. Allen meanwhile torched the stolen car used by killers, having seemingly performed reconnaissance missions on key locations earlier the same evening.
Harrison’s home was allegedly used as a base of operations on the night in question. A fifth defendant, Anna McGinn, was charged with assisting an offender in connection with the fatal shooting, having driven Byrne and her then boyfriend Connolly home in the aftermath.
But the latter has not been present in the dock, having previously fled the country for Turkey. The jury returned their verdict yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, after 15 hours and 15 minutes of deliberations.
Byrne, Allen and Harrison were unanimously convicted of Jackie’s murder, while Glynn was found guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 10 to two. All four were also unanimously found guilty of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and arson.
Harrison was seen shaking his head as he was convicted, while Glynn raised his eyebrows as he was found guilty of manslaughter. Having initially shown no reaction to the verdicts, Byrne then threw a seemingly full bottle of Buxton water at Allen as he was led down to the cells.
Allen, who appeared to be struck on the head by the vessel, then responded by shouting “f***ing k***head” and appeared to lunge at his co-defendant, having to be restrained by guards. He continued to struggle at this stage however, saying: “Let me go.”
McGinn was meanwhile seen to be in tears as she was cleared of assisting an offender and discharged from the dock. Mr Justice Goose, the High Court judge who has been presiding over the trial, will pass sentence this morning, Thursday.
Nigel Power KC previously told jurors during the prosecution’s opening back in October: “Nearly three years ago now, on the 30th of October 2022, a lady called Jacqueline Rutter opened the front door to her home address. She was shot in the chest with a gun, which either was or was similar to a Grand Power self-loading pistol, and she died at the scene.
“Jackie Rutter, as she was always known, was a 53-year-old grandmother. But this was no case of mistaken identity. This was a targeted revenge attack in the heat of a dispute over drugs.
“During the trial, you will see CCTV. Three men arrived at her address in a black Vauxhall Insignia car. It was a stolen car. Two passengers were in the back. They got out of the back of the car. They went to Mrs Rutter’s front door.
“When she answered, she was shot twice. One shot missed, one went through her right hand and into her chest. The two men who had gone to her front door got back into the Vauxhall Insignia.
“They went to a nearby street, where they were met by a fourth man. He had been waiting for them with two other vehicles, a silver Ford C-Max and a Yamaha motorbike. Within minutes of the shooting, the Vauxhall Insignia was alight.
“The two men who got out of the car to kill Jackie Rutter were the first defendants in this case, James Byrne, and another man called Preston Connolly. They were involved in a drugs business together and were taking revenge because, the day before, the phone that they used to run the drugs business had been taken from them by Jackie Rutter’s sons, Steven Rutter and Peter Rutter.
“Preston Connolly fled the country. He went to Istanbul from Manchester on the 30th of December 2023. He will have to be tried at a later date, but he is an important figure in the case and you will hear quite a lot about him.
“The driver of the Insignia was Barrie Glynn. He too was a drugs user. He bought drugs from Preston Connolly and James Byrne, and he also helped with the business. Simon Allen and David Harrison provided valuable assistance to the shooters.
“They too were employees of the drugs business, the JJ Line, as it was known. You will see that they played important roles in what happened. Mr Allen was the person who set fire to the Insignia car.
“Anna McGinn, the fifth defendant, was Preston Connolly’s girlfriend. After the murder, she gave lifts to James Byrne and Preston Connolly to help them get away from the locality of the murder and to help them avoid arrest.”
The court would thereafter hear that Byrne and his twin brother Curtis have previous convictions for attempted murder. These related to another shooting on May 11 the same year, when “a rival drug dealer was shot with a self loading pistol in retaliation for other acts of violence”.
Additionally, Allen was said to have offences on his record relating to the possession of firearms, dating back to 2003 and 2020. During his evidence, he would tell the court that he “just found guns extremely nice to look at”.
The ECHO can now report that Allen was previously jailed in November 2023 for offences relating to indecent images of children. The Wirral Globe reported on this occasion that the then 53-year-old had an “interest in young boys” and shared such depraved materials online with other perverts.
Allen was handed a total of three-and-a-half years behind bars on this occasion after downloading 250 indecent pictures and videos before sending some onwards to four other users. He was also found to have accessed extreme pornography images involving horses and dogs.
It came after Allen was locked up for similar offences in 2015, being ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years as a result. However, he breached these conditions by travelling to the Netherlands with Byrne and Connolly without informing the police in advance.
Allen was meanwhile said to have previous convictions in Holland relating to extreme pornographic images and drug offences. John Weate, defending, told the court on this occasion that his client had spent his younger years in the country as his dad had run a business on the continent, while he was also described as a heavy user of illicit class A substances.
As with Glynn and Harrison to follow him, Allen would go on to name 23-year-old Byrne, of no fixed address, as being responsible for the shooting during his time in the witness box. In his account, he alleged that his co-defendant had told him “I’ve just put two in the chest” a matter of minutes following the shooting.
Allen, aged 55 and of no fixed address, went on to report that he had later been kidnapped by Byrne’s mum and “given a hiding” by men armed with a machete and an axe as they demanded money from him. During a tense exchange, he told his co-defendant’s counsel Adrian Langdale KC “I don’t give a f*** what you think” and apparently swore at him in Dutch under cross-examination.
