The man who admitted trying to help Thomas Cashman evade justice will be sentenced later this month.
Paul Russell, 41, gave Cashman a lift and moved his clothing after the 34-year-old killed Olivia Pratt-Korbel on August 22 last year. Manchester Crown Court heard Russell later handed himself into police when he realised Cashman had killed the nine-year-old instead of his intended target, convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee.
The jury in the trial of Cashman last month were not told Russell, of Snowberry Road in West Derby, had pleaded guilty to assisting an offender to avoid prejudicing the case. Russell had initially appeared alongside Cashman in the dock at Liverpool Magistrates' Court in October last year, but a reporting restriction was imposed by a judge when he admitted his offence, meaning his guilty plea could not be reported by the media until Cashman was found guilty of murder.
