Bullets found in Louis Vuitton purse alongside 'ghost gun' used to shoot dad dead

Bullets were discovered inside a Louis Vuitton purse as police recovered the "ghost gun" which a masked man used to shoot a dad dead in front of his girlfriend's home. Rikki Berry, who was known as "Nuggy", died aged 36 after a balaclava-clad assailant on an electric bike unleashed a flurry of four gunshots outside the house on Quarryside Drive in Kirkby in the early evening of July 17 last year.

Three men are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder. Adam Williams, Michael Smith and Connor Walsh are alleged to have performed a "reconnaissance mission" on the address in advance of the shooting before travelling in convoy alongside the bike in a black SUV during the drive-by attack.

David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, today told a jury of eight men and four women in an agreed fact, evidence which is not disputed between parties in the case, that Greater Manchester Police attended a flat on Great Cheetham Street West in Salford on the morning of November 29 last year. Found in a plastic bag in a communal area outside the apartment was a Glock 19-style self-loading pistol, referred to as a "ghost gun" as it contained no serial number, alongside a magazine.

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The weapon was described as being in "good condition" and was successfully test fired. It was subsequently "conclusively determined" that this was the firearm used in the shooting of Mr Berry.

Also discovered on top of a kitchen cupboard inside the property was a Louis Vuitton purse which contained 16 9mm rounds, as well as two spent bullet cartridges. A further bullet was recovered from inside a coffee tin.

Firearms expert Andre de Villiers Horne was then called to give evidence and showed the seized gun to jurors from the witness box. He went on to detail how one of the four shots, said to have been the first or second to be discharged, struck Mr Berry in the chest as he was crouched down looking into an external cupboard at the front of the property, causing fatal injury.

The other of the first two bullets fired meanwhile missed its target and shattered upon striking tiles in the kitchen. A third was then said to have caused a "superficial wound" to the victim's left shoulder as he "hunched up and started turning" following the firing of the first two shots.

This bullet subsequently continued through the open cupboard door and into the house, where it struck a football trophy on the windowsill in the kitchen before passing through this rear window's UPVC frame, hitting a t-shirt which had been hanging on a washing line in the back garden and shattering the glass pane of an outdoor shed. The fourth gunshot meanwhile hit Mr Berry in the buttock, exiting via his thigh and ricocheting off the kitchen floor into a cupboard.

Forensic scientist Nicola Thain also addressed the jury from the stand on Wednesday in relation to DNA which was found on one of four bullet casings recovered from the scene of the shooting. She detailed how this "low level, partial result" provided "extremely strong support" that the contributed material had originated from Walsh.

Ms Thain added: "In my opinion, the findings could be explained by Connor Walsh having handled the ammunition at some stage. I am unable to determine when the DNA was deposited. Although Connor Walsh states that he has never seen or been near to a bullet, from the information provided to me, I am unaware of any reason why a source of his DNA would be able to indirectly transfer onto the ammunition."

In cross-examination, his counsel Nick Johnson KC suggested that the presence of his client's DNA could "equally be explained if a gunman visited his address for more than an hour before the shooting" and "got onto the gloves he was wearing" before being transferred to the casing when the gun was loaded. Ms Thain agreed that this was a "reasonable possibility".

Another forensic scientist, Heather McKinlay, then told the court that Walsh's DNA had also been detected on the magazine which was seized from the same bag as the murder weapon. She said: "One explanation for the findings is that Connor Walsh has had contact with the magazine at some stage. However, from the presence of DNA alone, I am unable to say when or the order in which any DNA has been transferred."

Members of the jury were previously shown CCTV footage showing the shooter approaching the property on Quarryside Drive, where a toolbox and a pink child's bicycle could be seen lying in the front yard, by riding along the pavement on a Sur-Ron e-bike wearing a balaclava, gloves and dark clothing with his hood up. Four loud bangs could then be heard as the gunman produced the weapon and pointed it in the direction of Mr Berry.

He had been working in the garden beside the front door at the time. Around 20 members of his family were present in the public gallery and could be seen in tears and wiping their eyes with tissues as the video of the shooting was played on Tuesday last week.

The gunman was supposedly "travelling in convoy" alongside a black Seat Ateca Cupra car, which came to a halt beside the cyclist as the "murderous attack" was carried out. Williams, aged 26 and of Hamblett Crescent in St Helens, admits being the driver of this car, with Smith, aged 25 and of Marbury Road, and Walsh, aged 26 and of Simonswood Lane, apparently being carried in the rear at the time.

All three defendants deny murder and possession of a prohibited weapon with intent to endanger life. The trial, before the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC, continues.