Simon Allen was found guilty of the murder of Jackie Rutter (Image: Merseyside police)
A killer who planned to shoot a grandmother dead is a convicted paedophile, it has been revealed. The Liverpool Echo is reporting that Simon Allen is one of three men who was convicted of the murder of Jackie Rutter, who was shot at her front door in the Wirral in October 2022.
James Byrne, Barrie Glynn and David Harrison have also been on trial over the past three months at Liverpool Crown Court accused of the murder of the nan at her home on Meadowbrook Road, Moreton.
The court heard that the shooting was in retaliation to 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 then allegedly carried out the shooting the following day, with Glynn the getaway driver. Allen meanwhile torched the stolen car used by the murderers, having seemingly performed reconnaissance missions on key locations earlier the same evening.
It is alleged that Harrison’s home was used as a base on the night of the murder. A fifth defendant, Anna McGinn, was also charged with assisting an offender in connection with the shooting as she drove Byrne and her then boyfriend Connolly home afterwards.
The latter has not been present in the Liverpool dock, having previously fled the country for Turkey. The fate of the criminals was decided on Wednesday, January 28 after a 15 hour and 15 minute deliberation by the jury.
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.
According to the ECHO, Harrison was seen shaking his head when he was convicted, while Glynn raised his eyebrows as he was found guilty of manslaughter. Byrne initially did not react to the verdict, but then threw a seemingly full bottle of Buxton water at Allen as he was led down to the cells.
In response to this, Allen shouted “f***ing k***head” and appeared to lunge at his co-defendant, with guards having to restrain him. He continued to struggle at this stage however, saying: “Let me go.”
McGinn was cleared of assisting an offender and discharged from the dock, in tears. The men will be sentenced by Mr Justice Goose on Thursday morning.
When the case began in October, Nigel Power KC told jurors: “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.
Jackie Rutter, 53, was shot dead on her doorstep (Image: ECHO)
“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 were told in the duration of the trial that Byrne and his twin brother Curtis have previous convictions for attempted murder. These were in relation to a shooting on May 11, 2022 when “a rival drug dealer was shot with a self loading pistol in retaliation for other acts of violence”.
James Byrne was found guilty of murder and labelled ‘responsible’ by defendants (Image: Merseyside police)
Allen also had previous offences on his record that related to the possession of firearms, dated back to 2003 and 2020. He told the court he “just found guns extremely nice to look at”.
Allen was jailed in November 2023 for offences relating to indecent images of children. The ECHO reports that the then 53-year-old has an “interest in young boys” and shared such depraved materials online with other perverts.
After downloading 250 indecent pictures and videos and sending some on to four others, Allen was jailed for three-and-a-half years. Extreme pornography images involving horses and dogs were also found on Allen’s devices.
Allen was forced to sign the sex offenders register in 2015 after being jailed for similar offences. However, he breached these conditions by travelling to the Netherlands with Byrne and Connolly without letting the police know prior.
He was also said to have previous convictions relating to extreme pornographic images and drug offences in Holland. The defending, John Weate, said to the court his client had spent his early years in the country due to his dad running a business there, while he was also described as a heavy user of illicit class A substances.
Allen, as followed by Glynn and Harrison, said from the witness box that 23-year-old Byrne, of no fixed address, was responsible for the shooting. He said to the court that his co-defendant saiud to him minutes after the shooting “I’ve just put two in the chest”.
Allen, 55 and of no fixed address, said following the event he had been kidnapped by Byrne’s mum and “given a hiding” by men armed with a machete and axe as they demanded he pay them. When being cross-examined Allen told his co-defendant’s counsel Adrian Langdale KC “I don’t give a f*** what you think” before swearing at him in Dutch.
