This harrowing CCTV footage shows the moment Thomas Cashman ambushes his “intended target” Joseph Nee and shoots him in the bungled assassination attempt that led to the death of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
Gangland thug Cashman, 34, was today convicted of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel after a three and a half week trial at Manchester Crown Court. The St Margaret Mary’s Primary School pupil died on August 22 last year, when Cashman blindly fired a revolver into her home.
The fatal shot was fired as the gangland thug chased Nee, then 35, who was trying to barge inside Olivia’s family home on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, to escape.
CCTV cameras mounted on houses on Kingsheath Avenue caught Nee and his friend, Paul Abraham, walking along just before 10pm. They had left the home of a man called Timothy Naylor on Finch Lane, where the group had been watching Manchester United vs Liverpool on TV.
Two loud bangs ring out in quick succession, prompting Mr Abraham to flinch and run for his life. As the jury heard, the shots had been fired from a 9mm self-loading Glock style pistol, which was not the same weapon used to shoot Olivia.
The footage shows Nee, who had been hit in the midriff, stagger to the ground as the gunman appears standing over him, when a third loud bang is audible.
According to the prosecution, it was at this point, as Cashman was undoubtedly preparing to execute the wounded Nee, that the Glock pistol probably malfunctioned.
But Nee’s life-saving stroke of fortune had horrific consequences for Olivia.
Alarmed by the commotion, Olivia’s mum, Cheryl Korbel, had opened her door and stepped outside to see what was happening. Nee, apparently spotting the open door and seeing it as his best escape route, barged in as Cheryl desperately tried to keep him out.
The door, however, had been left on a latch to allow her neighbours to pop round for a cup of tea, costing her vital seconds and allowing Nee to prevent the door from closing.
As Cheryl and Nee were struggling at the door, Cashman pulled out his backup weapon, a 0.3 calibre revolver, and fired again. Inside, little Olivia had been tucked up in bed, but the sound of gunshots outside alarmed her and she jumped up, ran down the stairs and shouted “Mum I’m scared”.
As Olivia reached the bottom of the staircase, the bullet fired by Cashman passed through the door, through Cheryl’s wrist and struck Olivia in the chest.
Cashman then reached around the door and fired again, but his final shot lodged in the door frame without causing any injuries.
Cashman, formerly of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was also convicted of the attempted murder of Joseph Nee, wounding Cheryl Korbel with intent to cause GBH and two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Trial judge, Mrs Justice Yip, will pass sentence on Monday.
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