Age: 29
Sex: male
Date: 4 Nov 2017
Place: Market Place, Prescot
Adam Ellison was stabbed by a person on a scrambler motorbike in Market Place at about 12.40am on Saturday 4 November 2017.
He was attacked during an argument as he was walking along the pedestrianised area in Market Place with three friends. He became involved in the argument with two people on a motorbike during which one of them, thought to have been the pillion passenger, stabbed him in the neck with a weapon. It was not known what the weapon was and it was never found.
After being stabbed he fell to the ground and the motorbike went off.
The emergency services were called out and he was taken to Whiston hospital but died the same morning at 2am. Whilst in hospital Adam Ellison was given eight pints of blood during their efforts to save him.
The person on the motorbike that stabbed him had been the pillion passenger. The argument had started after the motorbike, a green and white Kawasaki KX 85 Big Wheel off road type bike had ridden too close to his group of friends, almost hitting them but pulling away at the last moment. The Kawasaki was noted for not having any stickers on it which they otherwise often had.
Two teenagers and a man from Huyton were arrested on suspicion of murder in September 2019 but no charges were made.
The police later released CCTV footage that showed five people riding motorbikes in the Huyton area at 10.30pm on the night that Adam Ellison was murdered and the police said that they were trying to identify them, suggesting that the green and white Kawasaki might have been amongst them. The footage showed the group of motorbikes turning right into the High Street in Prescot from Leyland Street. Another clip showed two other bikes going into King George Park and it was noted that only one of them was seen to leave and that when it did it had two people on it. The police said that of the five motorcycles, three of them were road bikes and two were off-road bikes and that they knew that two of the road bikes were stolen.
The police said that they thought that the bike that was seen leaving King George Park at about 11pm with two people on it then went to the area where Adam Ellison was murdered.
The police later said that they thought that the person that had stabbed Adam Ellison had come from the Huyton area or had connections to it.
They said that it could be seen from the CCTV footage of the bikers that they had been in the Huyton area earlier in the evening and had headed off towards Huyton following Adam Ellison being stabbed.
The police said that they thought that the motorbike that the person that stabbed Adam Ellison had been on, the green and white Kawasaki bike, could well have been sold on soon after, possibly to a person that didn't know its history and the police said that they were interested in speaking to anyone that had bought such a motorbike around November 2017.
The police said that it was thought that the green and white Kawasaki motorbike had been with the other group of motorbikes earlier in the night and had later split off from them and had gone around Prescot and had at one point stopped by the The Old Mill public house at which time the pillion passenger had got off and gone to the pub window and looked through as though looking for someone before getting back on the motorbike and riding off again.
The police added that they had determined that a woman had been in the Old Mill pub in Prescot on the night of Friday 3 November 2017 but that they had yet to identify her or speak to her and appealed for her to come forward in case she could help with their enquiry and they released a CCTV image of her.
It was further noted that Adam Ellison had also been in the Old Mill pub drinking with his friends earlier in the evening.
The police said that they thought that at the time that the green and white Kawasaki bike had been at the Old Mill pub that Adam Ellison and his friend had just been leaving the Deanes House public house and that they had encountered the green and white Kawasaki bike in Market Place just after it left the Old Mill pub.
The police later said that they thought that the two men on the green and white Kawasaki motorbike might have been out looking for someone at the time but that they didn't think that it would have been Adam Ellison or his friends. They said that they thought that Adam Ellison had been 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' when he and his friends were nearly hit by the green and white Kawasaki motorcycle.
The police said, 'We don't know why the motorcycles were in the area that night, they may have been just looking to engage in anti-social behaviour but they could have been looking for someone'.
It was said that after the two youth's on the green and white Kawasaki bike had ridden close to Adam Ellison's group of friends that Adam Ellison had remonstrated with them for almost hitting them and that the motorbike had stopped and the pillion passenger got off to confront Adam Ellison. They were seen to wave their arms about in a confrontational stance arguing with each other before the pillion passenger was seen to strike Adam Ellison.
Adam Ellison's friends said that when they saw the pillion passenger strike Adam Ellison they just thought that he had punched him and knocked him to the ground and it was only after the bike had gone off and they had gone to see Adam Ellison that they found that he had been stabbed.
The green and white Kawasaki motorcycle was said to have ridden off towards Sewell Street, the Tesco supermarket and Huyton.
When the police reviewed the course of events, they said, 'At that time Adam was leaving the Deanes House. As he reached the junction of Market Place and Eccleston Street the green and white Kawasaki has appeared. It has appeared to have driven at Adam and his friends and come very close to hitting them, turning away at the last minute. They have shouted at the motorcycle, which drove about 50 yards down the road and pulls up. Adam went and spoke to the pillion passenger. The pillion passenger then swung the punch at Adam', it being noted that the pillion passenger had in fact had a weapon in his hand that had cut Adam Ellison's throat.
The police said, 'We are really keen to speak to anybody who can identify or was part of the group on that night as they may have information which is vital to our investigation'. They also said that they were interested in speaking to anyone that knew anything about the green and white Kawasaki bike that was thought to have been used by the person that stabbed Adam Ellison.
The police added that they thought that it was also possible that the people involved in Adam Ellison's murder might have soon after burned all their clothing and said that they were interested in speaking to anyone who might have noticed someone doing something suspicious like that or behaving suspiciously around that time, Saturday 4 November 2017.
Adam Ellison had worked for Tesco the supermarket where he had just started training for a management role. He had a partner and had just bought a home together with her.
It was said that he was hardworking and that the night that he was murdered was a rare night out with some friends for him. It was noted that Adam Ellison had gone out that evening to discuss his forthcoming engagement with his girlfriend.