A nine-year-old girl who was killed by a gunman at her home in Liverpool told her mother “I’m scared” moments before she was shot.
Thomas Cashman allegedly fired a bullet through the front door of a family home in August last year, hitting the hand of Cheryl Korbel, 46, and fatally wounding her daughter, Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Manchester Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
He was in “a ruthless pursuit” of his intended victim Joseph Nee, who he allegedly shot in the midriff as Nee fled to Olivia’s house, the court was told.
Cashman, 34, denies murdering Olivia, the attempted murder of Mr Nee, wounding Ms Kobel with intent to do grievous bodily harm and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Opening the case, David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, said: “It is about the ruthless pursuit by Thomas Cashman to shoot Joseph Nee at all costs without any consideration for anyone else in the community.
“Such was the planning and ruthless nature of this attack that Thomas Cashman, we say, went armed and was in possession of two loaded firearms.
“When in all likelihood one of them failed, he simply turned to the other one to execute, literally, his plan”.
The prosecutor said Cashman had been “lying in wait” on 22 August for Mr Nee, who was watching a football match at the home of another man, Timothy Naylor.
When Mr Nee left the house at about 10pm, the court heard a gunman ran behind him and fired three shots from a self-loading pistol, one of which hit Mr Nee in the midriff.
Mr Nee stumbled and the gunman, alleged to be Cashman, stood over him and tried to fire again but, possibly because the pistol malfunctioned, he was unable to complete his “task” and kill Mr Nee, Mr McLachlan said.
The court heard Ms Korbel went outside upon hearing a noise outside her house. Seeing the pursuit, she ran back into her house and tried to close the door, but it did not close fully, the jury was told.
Mr Nee began banging on the door and shouting “help me” and she was screaming at him to “go away”, Mr McLachlan said.
Mr McLachlan said Ms Korbel then turned round and saw Olivia.
She said: “I remember when I turned round and realised the baby was right behind me because she’d come obviously down the stairs cause she’d heard.”
Olivia’s brother Ryan said Olivia had run downstairs screaming: “Mum, I’m scared.”
Ms Korbel was then described as being at the top of the stairs with Olivia saying: “Stay with me baby.”
Cashman then fired at Mr Nee from a second weapon, a revolver, and hit the front door of the family home, the court heard.
A neighbour described hearing bangs before “the worst screaming I’ve ever heard in my life”.
Mr Nee managed to get inside the house and Cashman allegedly fired again into the doorframe, before running away.
Other neighbours said they saw Nee stumble out of the house and collapse in the road, where he made a phone call and a black car with five males in it arrived and took him away, the court was told.
Mr McLachlan said: “That fourth likely shot passed through the door, it then passed through Cheryl Korbel’s right hand as she was no doubt trying to shut the door. The bullet then went into the chest of Cheryl Korbel’s daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel.”
Olivia was pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital later that night.
Casman’s trial is expected to last four weeks.
