Thomas Cashman has been found guilty of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.
The 34-year-old went on trial after Olivia was shot in her Dovecot home in Liverpool last August. Cashman previously pleaded not guilty to murdering Olivia in December. Cashman, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was found guilty by a jury.
The verdict was delivered this afternoon, Thursday, after eight hours of deliberations.
Cashman was also found guilty of attempting to murder Joseph Nee, wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm against Cheryl Korbel and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
During the trial, which lasted more than three weeks, 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 Nee and his family “had their enemies” and it was not the first time he had been targeted in a shooting.
Following the verdict, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy of Merseyside Police said: “The conviction of Thomas Cashman in terms of the murder of Olivia is a positive.
“We are still hunting down those people who enabled that murder to take place – who supplied the gun, where the gun is – and we will carry on until we identify those people responsible.”
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