James Byrne, Barrie Glynn, Simon Allen and David Harrison are accused of the murder of 56-year-old Jackie Rutter
James Byrne, Barrie Glynn, Simon Allen and David Harrison are accused of the murder of 56-year-old Jackie Rutter
Jurors in a murder trial have retired to consider their verdicts after a nan was shot dead in her own home. Mum-of six and grandmother-of-five Jackie Rutter died aged 53 after being shot in the chest on her doorstep on Meadowbrook Road in Moreton, Wirral, in October 2022.
James Byrne, Barrie Glynn, Simon Allen and David Harrison are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown accused of her murder. The prosecution allege 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, is also facing the court 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. Jurors retired to consider their verdicts on Thursday afternoon and are due to continue their deliberations this morning, Tuesday.
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 defendant 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.”
Allen, aged 55 and of no fixed address, 23-year-old Byrne, also of no fixed address, 46-year-old Glynn, of Westway in Heswall, and 59-year-old Harrison, of Old Meadow Road in Pensby, deny murder, manslaughter, possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger and arson, relates to the stolen Vauxhall Insignia used during the shooting. McGinn, aged 26 and of Frankby Stiles, Frankby, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of assisting an offender, and the trial, before Mr Justice Goose, continues.
