The classmates of Olivia Pratt-Korbel will get to watch a screening of her favourite film on the day of her funeral.
Children at St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School in Knotty Ash, will not attend the service at neighbouring St Margaret Mary's Church tomorrow, but will instead remember their friend in other ways, according to headteacher Rebecca Wilkinson. That will include an afternoon screening of the adaptation of Roald Dahl classic 'Matilda'.
The nine-year-old was shot dead in her home on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, at around 10pm on Monday, August 22 by a gunman chasing 35-year-old Joseph Nee. Nee had barged inside in a desperate bid to escape after Olivia's mum, Cheryl Korbel, heard loud bangs and opened her front door to see what was going on.
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So far nine people have been arrested in connection with Olivia's murder, but no-one has yet been charged. Olivia will be laid to rest tomorrow morning, three and half weeks after the shooting. Mrs Wilkinson said Olivia “oozed kindness” and would be remembered for her smile.
She said: “She’d walk into my room with her friends and that smile would just light up the room. You would hope this would never happen again, not in any school. It’s not something I would wish upon any headteacher. The loss of any child in a school is tragic, the loss of a child with so much personality makes it doubly hard.”
The school's 480 pupils have been offered counselling since returning from their summer holidays, and Merseyside Police have also said Home Office funding will be used to provide therapeutic support to other children in the area affected by the devastating loss.
Mrs Wilkinson said: "We have had counsellors in every class. That’s definitely helped and what has been great is how resilient the children have been. They are devastated at the loss of their friend, they truly are, but the counselling has definitely helped and we have been so proud of the resilience the children have shown since they’ve been back."
Tomorrow prayers will be written in school and an art project of flowers put together in Olivia's memory. Mrs Wilkinson added: "In the afternoon we are going to watch Olivia's favourite film, which was Matilda, so that's something for the children to look forward to."
In an emotional video shared via Merseyside Police, mum Cheryl spoke of her pain and urged those responsible to come forward. She said: "Everyone that she met, they all fell in love with her. She left a mark on everyone that she met and she may well have only been nine but she packed a lot into them nine years.
"She hurt your ears because she never, never, stopped talking and that's what I miss the most, because I can't hear her talk. I'm hoping that they come forward so this doesn't happen to anybody else.
"You know you have done wrong so you need to own up, like I've taught my kids. You do something wrong, you own up to it. If anyone is hiding these guns they need to speak up, because they need to be off these streets. No one at all should have to go through this.."
Her dad, John Francis Pratt, also shared a statement saying: "Words can’t express the pain we are going through after Olivia was so cruelly snatched away from us. Those responsible need to know what they have done."
Tory peer Lord Ashcroft, the founder of charity Crimestoppers, last night announced he had personally provided a £50,000 reward for new information leading to the conviction of her killers. On Monday police search teams began scouring the grounds around West Derby Golf Club following a tip-off that the murder weapons had been dumped there. The search remains ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crimestoppers via its online form here or by calling 0800 555 111
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