The ex-lover of Thomas Cashman told a jury giving evidence about the man accused of killing Olivia Pratt-Korbel has "finished her life".
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spent today (Monday) being cross-examined about the extent of her "fling" with 34-year-old Cashman by his counsel, Professor John Cooper, KC, during his trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Olivia, nine, died on August 22 last year after a bullet passed through the front door of her home in Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, through the hand of her mum, Cheryl Korbel, and struck her in the chest. The jury has heard the shot was fired by a gunman chasing 36-year-old Joseph Nee, who barged into the Korbel family home while fleeing for his life.
READ MORE: Thomas Cashman trial updates as second week of evidence on Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder
Cashman, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, denies Olivia's murder or any involvement in the shootings. The prosecution allege that Cashman turned up at the woman's house after the murder and told her he had "wanted to get them before they got him".
The court heard the woman and Cashman had slept together a number of times before the shooting, and she accepted that she was "obsessed" with him in the early days of their "fling", although she claimed "he couldn't perform" sexually.
She said: "I valued Tommy’s principles. I valued him as a man. He was true to his word. With me and him, it wasn’t like that. We didn’t have that connection when he come to see me every day. When he come to see me he was there for me.
"He’d help anyone who needed help and I’d always vouch for that for him for that."
However she added: "It would never have been able to have worked. Because of his family. He loved Kaylee at the end of the day, it would never have worked. We never spoke about us being together, never."
Mr Cooper suggested the witness was "angry, resentful and vindictive towards Thomas Cashman", which she denied.
He suggested she was "jealous" after finding out he had also been sleeping with another woman apart from herself and his partner, Kayleeanne Sweeney. He highlighted a message she sent to a friend saying: "I am going to ruin him like he's done to me."
The witness denied she was jealous, and said: "Maybe I wanted to ruin him at the end. She [Ms Sweeney] had a right to know. She’s been told numerous occasions he’s been with other people. So I didn’t in the end because I knew I would be made out to be the liar and I would have had nothing but confrontation at my door from her family."
In a number of tense exchanges with Mr Cooper, which resulted in judge Mrs Justice Amanda Yip asking her to "calm down", the witness expressed frustration at being asked detailed questions about her relationship with Cashman.
She said: "He’s absolutely annihilated my life, finished my life. I didn't know he was going to ruin my life at that point. Your client’s a liar. I tried to cut it off with Tommy so many times. He kept coming and coming to head f*** me.
“That poor little girl is my main concern, all I’ve spoken to the past five hours is that piece of s*** in there. I’ve had enough. No-one’s interested in my life. We’re here for a tiny little girl, that’s my main concern. Let’s go on with these silly WhatsApp messages.”
Mr Cooper highlighted messages where the witness discussed setting up a "blag" email and Instagram account to send a message to Ms Sweeney about his flings with other women. He suggested: "The preparations to ruin this defendant were quite advanced weren’t they?"
The witness replied: "You’re implying I’ve ruined your client’s life, yet I’ve ruined my life."
She added: "I am sitting here for what, because I’m angry? I’m mad? No. I’m sitting here for the little girl. I’ve not been asked one question about her."
As well as denying Olivia's murder, Cashman denies the attempted murder of Nee, as well as wounding Cheryl Korbel with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm. He also pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, namely a 9mm calibre self-loading pistol and a 0.3 calibre revolver.
The jury will continue hearing evidence from the witness tomorrow.
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