Man called 'f***ing little scruff' and 'rat' as he's jailed for life
Ryan Walsh-Westhead was told he must serve at least 28 years behind bars after being found guilty of the murder of Rikki Berry
A killer was called a "f***ing little scruff" and a "rat" as he was jailed for life after a dad was shot dead outside his girlfriend's house. Rikki Berry, known as "Nuggy", died aged 36 after being shot three times by a balaclava-clad assailant on an electric bike on Quarryside Drive in Kirkby on July 17 2024.
Ryan Walsh-Westhead has been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder over the past two weeks, having been caught saying "the f***ing idiot’s dead" on a Ring doorbell camera moments after the shooting. The 25-year-old, of Farrier Road in Kirkby, was also said to have been one of three occupants of a black Seat Ateca Cupra car that was driven "in convoy" alongside the e-bike at the time of the shooting.
Three other men, Michael Smith, Adam Williams and Walsh-Westhead's uncle Connor Walsh, were previously found guilty of Mr Berry's murder following a trial before the same court last year. With the former having acted as the gunman, the other two defendants were reportedly present in the car in order to "oversee the shooting".
Walsh-Westhead was similarly convicted of Rikki’s murder, as well as possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, by a jury of seven men and five women today, Friday. The unanimous verdict was returned after three hours and 54 minutes of deliberations.
Tears were seen among members of Rikki's family as Walsh-Westhead was found guilty, while he showed no reaction as he was found guilty. He was then sentenced to a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 28 years behind bars this afternoon.
As he was then led to the cells, a woman in the public gallery told Walsh-Westhead "you scruffy little dirty killer, you f***ing little scruff". A man was then heard to add: "Who's the idiot now lad? Rat."
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC told him: "The circumstances in which Mr Berry was killed are entirely straightforward, but no less disturbing for that.
"It was crystal clear from the CCTV footage that capture the events that all four of you were working together and were jointly involved in this attack. You were all at the scene for a purpose, and that purpose was to shoot and kill Mr Berry.
"It is not possibly for me to determine why Mr Berry was shot. He was plainly the intended target. What the motive was has never been clearly identified and remains a mystery. It would be tempting to conclude that it had something to do with drugs, because the evidence in the earlier trial showed that the other three, to a greater or lesser extent, were involved in the supply of class A drugs.
"But, equally, it might have had something to do with a dispute that had nothing to do with underlying criminal activity. You and the others obviously know why you thought he deserved to die, and others may know or suspect why it happened.
"But I cannot guess what the reason was. Whatever it was, it did not justify shooting someone dead, and it was ultimately a futile response, because it has achieved nothing other than the destruction of one life and the destruction of the futures of you and the other three.
"What I do know and am sure about is that the four of you spent some time that day planning what was effectively an execution. You all travelled to West Derby. The likelihood is that is when the gun and ammunition were collected. I have no doubt that you were driving the Cupra at that time.
"Having armed yourselves in that way, you all travelled back to Kirkby in order to see if your target was outside his house. In fact, he was in the front garden fixing something, as he often did. Seeing your opportunity, you set off from the house of Walsh's partner, just around the corner, by which time Michael Smith had collected the electric bike.
"You then travelled in convoy together and found Mr Berry standing in the doorway. There was evidence that someone shouted something just before the shooting started. I have no doubt that the shout came from someone in the car, and that it was designed to attract his attention before he was shot.
"He was trapped in the doorway with nowhere to go when he was shot at close range. This was, in every sense, a cold blooded premeditated slaying, made all the more outrageous by the fact that it happened in broad daylight on a quiet residential street where families live and children play.
"In that house at that time were two other adults and two young children. It is only by good fortune that there were not other casualties. Your joint actions showed a reckless arrogance similar to that of the wild west. You simply did not care and thought that some code of silence would protect you, but you did not reckon on the diligence and efficient on the subsequent police investigation.
"The person you jointly killed, Rikki Berry, was clearly a popular and well loved man. He was affectionally known to all as Nuggy and was a partner and a father. Their lives have been damaged irreparably by their loss."
David McLachlan KC previously told the jury during the prosecution's opening last week: "On Wednesday, the 17th July 2024, at 6.33pm, CCTV from Quarryside Drive, Kirkby, captured a black Seat Ateca Cupra car travelling along the road. The CCTV also captured an electric bike which was travelling in the same direction as, and in convoy with, the black Seat Ateca Cupra, but the electric bike was being ridden along the pavement.
"As the black Seat Ateca Cupra approached the front of Quarryside Drive it slowed down to a stop. It is the prosecution's case that this defendant, Ryan Walsh-Westhead, and two other men, Adam Williams and Connor Walsh, were all in that vehicle as it came to a stop outside Quarryside Drive.
"At the same time, the rider of the electric bike, Michael Smith, who was wearing a balaclava and gloves, also slowed down almost to a stop. The rider then fired four shots towards the door of Quarryside Drive. The target of the shooting was Rikki Berry who was also known as Nuggy. He was in the front garden of Quarryside Drive at the time.
"It is the prosecution's case that all four men were involved in the shooting of Rikki Berry. The shooter, Michael Smith, who was on the electric bike and fired the shots, and the three men who were in the black Seat Ateca Cupra, which was travelling in convoy with the bike, Adam Williams, Connor Walsh and this defendant, Ryan Walsh-Westhead, all of whom were there to oversee the shooting."
Ring doorbell footage captured at Walsh-Westhead's home a minute after the shooting was said to have shown him and Walsh entering the property while allegedly saying "the f***ing idiot's dead". His uncle was then heard following his inside saying: "Did they get him? Did they get Nuggy?"
Police attended the address on August 6 2024 and noted CCTV cameras were in place. However, upon returning the following day, officers found there was "no Ring doorbell present, and only three holes visible where a Ring doorbell would have been positioned".
But the video was eventually recovered on a mobile phone belonging to Walsh-Westhead's mum, Kellie Walsh, using specialist software. Further clips were also said to have shown him driving the vehicle used in the murder earlier the same day.
Walsh-Westhead gave evidence to the court this week and, under questioning from his counsel Richard Littler KC, said that he and Mr Berry were on "good terms", having known him "all his life" and had a "common interest" in motocross bikes. He also described the deceased as being "best mates" with another of his uncles and denied having “bad blood” with him.
Wearing a navy blue suit jacket and navy blue tie over a white shirt and sporting short dark hair in the witness box, Walsh-Westhead reported that he had been present at his mum's house on Farrier Road at the time of the shooting and instead said that he was approached by the Seat as he left to walk to his grandad's home on nearby Simonswood Lane. He said of this: "I was in my house doing my normal, day to day thing. I came down the path. A black car come in the street, pulled over. Someone's got out the car."
Walsh-Westhead said he recognised the person exiting the rear driver's side of the vehicle as being Walsh. He then recalled: "He's come round the back side of the boot and said to me, 'they've just shot Nuggy'."
Describing himself as being "scared" at this stage, Walsh-Westhead reported he and Walsh then walked back towards his front door at this stage. However, he told the court that, instead of "the f***ing idiot's dead", he had remarked: "The f***ing idiots are dead."
Asked who he had been referring to, Walsh-Westhead said: "The people who have just done it. Because he told me they'd just shot Nuggy."
When Mr Litter asked how Walsh seemed at this stage, Walsh-Westhead replied: "Under the influence. He was in an erratic state. He just couldn't keep still. He was just everywhere. He was slurring words."
Walsh was thereafter said to have remained at the address for "just a couple of minutes", with Walsh-Westhead adding: "He just wanted to go back home to his house. He kept saying, 'what am I gonna do?'. I was asking what had happened. He didn't say."
Smith and Williams were each previously handed life sentences with at least 31 years behind bars. Walsh was meanwhile told that he must serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before he had any prospect of being released.
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