The family of a mother who was shot in her home are appealing for “justice for Lucy” 20 years on from her murder. Lucy Hargreaves, 22, was asleep on the sofa when three men burst into her home in Walton, Liverpool, on August 3 2005 and fatally injured her.
The killers then set fire to the home on Lambourne Road, where her partner and two-year-old daughter were upstairs, and they had to escape through a window. Two decades on, her family released a previously unshared photograph of the mother-of-three, taken at college.
They said: “Over the past 20 years, people will have talked with family and friends. A number of people were contacted by males using a phone that was stolen, along with a vehicle used in Lucy’s murder.
“The people who received those calls, along with others, could have information which could be crucial in achieving justice for Lucy, her parents, sister, children and all her extended family and friends. We appeal directly to them to please come forward. Now is the time.”
Liverpool has been the centre of some sickening gang-related gun crime in recent years. In 2022 Olivia Pratt-Korbell, aged 9, was killed by a stray bullet during a gangland feud, and in the same year Ashley Dale, 28, was killed after drug dealers shot her dead in her own home. Lucy’s family paid tribute to the families of other victims of gun crime in the city who have campaigned to bring an end to the scourge.
Ms Hargreaves’ family, who said they “miss her every single day”, welcomed a focus on tackling violence against women and girls in recent years. The family said: “We greatly admire the determination and guts of the families of those who have more recently been killed as a result of gun crime here in Merseyside. The mums of both Ashley Dale and Olivia Pratt Korbel have led a real and powerful community challenge to men of violence.”
The family added: “We consider ourselves to be an ordinary local family with strong roots in the Walton, Norris Green, Croxteth and Dovecot areas of Liverpool.
“Lucy’s nanny Joyce was a strong mother of eight who had to cope with the loss of three granddaughters in her lifetime – including Lucy.
“Her nanny Betty, left a widow aged 35 with six children to bring up, was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to nursing as an auxiliary nurse in the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
“They were two strong local women typical of their generation, and Lucy too was a strong woman who could have achieved so much had she only been given the opportunity.”
During the course of the investigation into Lucy’s murder, detectives arrested 21 people, but no-one has been convicted. A comprehensive review into her murder was launched by Merseyside Police two years ago and remains ongoing.
A comprehensive review into her murder was launched by Merseyside Police two years ago and remains ongoing.
Howard Rubbery, head of the serious case review unit, said: “It is now 20 years since Lucy was taken from her family in the most brutal of circumstances.
“After carrying out the killing, the offenders ignored the cries of a toddler upstairs as they poured petrol around the house and set fire to it.
“Their callous and reckless actions could have claimed the lives of two more people that night, had they not escaped the flames by jumping from a window upstairs. We are as determined as ever to get justice for Lucy, whose death robbed her family of a loving mother and daughter.
“As with any unsolved murder, time is no barrier to our pursuit of justice for Lucy and we appeal to anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact us.”
Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about a gold Lexus car, believed to have been dumped shortly after the shooting on Richard Kelly Drive, Clubmoor, by a number of men who then ran in the direction of Normandale Road.
Police previously said they wanted to speak to Kevin Thomas Parle in connection with Ms Hargreaves’ murder. Parle, who was believed to be living abroad, was also wanted in connection with the murder of Liam Kelly, 16, who was shot in the early hours of June 19 2004 in Dingle, Liverpool.
Anyone with information should contact the Merseyside Police social media desk via X MerPolCC, on Facebook at Merseyside Police Contact Centre or through the website merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/.
Information can also be reported anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.