A man has been found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool last year as he chased a convicted drug dealer into her home.
Thomas Cashman admitted being a “high-level” cannabis dealer but had denied being the gunman in the fatal shooting, which also injured Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, and the intended target Joseph Nee on 22 August.
Cashman, 34, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday, following a three-and-a-half week trial. The jury also found him guilty of the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Ms Korbel, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Olivia’s mother, wearing a pink cardigan and holding a teddy bear, sat with her children Chloe and Ryan in the court. There were gasps and tears from Olivia’s family as the verdicts were returned.
Cashman wiped tears from his eyes following the verdicts. His family, including partner Kayleeanne Sweeney, sat in a public gallery behind a glass partition. Ms Sweeney could be seen with her head in her hand while other members of the defendant’s family were in tears. He turned back to his family and shook his head at one point.
Relatives of Cashman, including his sister, left the courtroom shouting, swearing and protesting his innocence. She claimed others were responsible for Olivia’s murder, not her brother, as she was ushered out of the court building by police officers and court security.
During the trial, the jury heard the schoolgirl ran downstairs after hearing shots outside, saying “I’m scared mummy, I’m scared.”
The bullet which killed Olivia was fired through the front door, hitting Ms Korbel in the hand before striking the schoolgirl in the chest.
Nee, a 36-year-old with a number of previous convictions, was injured before he ran towards the house after three shots were fired from a self-loading pistol in the street on Kingsheath Avenue.
The gunman fired a further two shots from a revolver into the Korbel family home, one which killed Olivia and the other which became lodged in the door. He then fled the scene, running across back gardens.
The court heard Cashman denied “scoping out” Nee on the day of the killing. He told the jury that at the time of the shooting he was at a friend’s house counting £10,000 in cash and smoking a spliff. During his evidence, Cashman, a father-of-two, told the court: “I’m not a killer, I’m a dad.”
But a woman who he had a fling with Cashman told the court he came to her house after the shooting and changed his clothes, before she heard him say he had “done Joey”. However. Cashman had said the witness was lying because she was a “woman scorned”.
Senior crown prosecutor Maria Corr, of CPS Mersey Cheshire’s Complex Casework Unit, said: “This has been a truly tragic case and one of the most complex I have had to deal with in my 32 years with the Crown Prosecution Service.
“At the heart of it is a nine-year-old girl who has lost her life. Olivia Pratt-Korbel was in her own home, with her family, where she should have been safe.
“By contrast, Thomas Cashman is a ruthless criminal who recklessly pursued another man, with no consideration of the consequences. He was intent on violence that night, arming himself with two loaded guns.
“He refused to display any guilt or remorse, denying his involvement throughout and putting Olivia’s family through the torment of a lengthy trial.”
Detective Superintendent Mark Baker, the senior investigating officer in the case, said Cashman’s actions were “abhorrent”.
He said: “When he found out that he had shot an innocent young girl, he should have had the courage to stand up and come forward. Instead, he chose to lie low despite the fact that he was a dad himself.
“He is not worthy of walking the streets of Merseyside, and neither are those who think they can bring fear or intimidation to our communities through use of firearms.”
Following her death, Olivia’s family described her as a “unique, chatty, nosey little girl who broke the mould when she was born”.
They said: “Although her life was short, her personality certainly wasn’t and she lived it to the most she could, and would blow people away with her wit and kindness.”
The senior investigating officer in the murder case has said the shooting of Olivia was a defining moment for a community that has had enough of organised crime.
Detective Superintendent Mark Baker said the murder of the nine-year-old had left the community “suffering”, adding, “These people who use guns are toxic in our community, we need to stand firmly together to stamp it out.”
It can now be reported that Paul Russell, 41, is to be sentenced for assisting an offender after he admitted driving Cashman away from Olivia’s house following her murder, and disposing of his clothing.
Russell, of Snowberry Road, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court last October, but the media was prevented from reporting his plea until the conclusion of Cashman’s trial.
