A high level drug dealer has been found guilty of shooting nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel dead.
Thomas Cashman, 34, was found guilty of gunning down the schoolgirl and wounding her mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, after chasing convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee, 36, into their home last August.
The senseless violence rocked the community as the family's world was flipped upside down.
After deliberating for eight hours, the jury of 10 men and two women found Cashman guilty after listening to evidence for nearly four weeks.
Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel, wearing a pink cardigan and holding a teddy bear, sat with her children Chloe and Ryan in the court. Her family was seen crying when the verdicts were read out.
Cashman was shaking his head as the verdict was read out. His relatives, 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.
Cheryl told reporters she was feeling “ecstatic” as she left the court.
Ms Korbel also raised a pink teddy bear into the air and shouted “yes!”
As Cashman's girlfriend left the court, she remained emotionless as other family members flicked rude gestures to the camera.
The jury delivered a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts.
Cashman was found guilty of the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, guilty of the attempted murder of Joseph Nee, guilty of wounding Cheryl Korbel with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, guilty of possessing a 9mm self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life and guilty of possessing a revolver with intent to endanger life.
Paul Russell was also convicted of assisting an offender and will be sentenced on Monday alongside Cashman.
Following Cashman's conviction, 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.”
A spokesman for the Prime Minister, speaking after Thomas Cashman was found guilty of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, said: “The Prime Minister’s thoughts remain with the family and friends of Olivia during what must be an incredibly difficult time.”
Merseyside police and crime commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “I can’t even begin to imagine the pain that Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s family and loved ones have been through in the past seven months.
“There is no justice that can bring Olivia back, and the last three weeks of the trial and Cashman’s refusal to admit his crimes must only have compounded their unthinkable suffering.
“Today’s guilty verdict will not bring their unique, chatty, beautiful little girl back and sadly it will not end their heartache, but at least they know he is off the streets and facing a life sentence for his cowardly and despicable actions.”
She paid tribute to the force and thanked the community, adding: “This senseless murder devastated our city. Sadly, it showed there is still a contemptible minority, an underbelly of our society, who have no morals and no care for anyone but themselves and their own greed.
“It is vital that we unite to make it clear they will never be welcome in our proud, caring, compassionate region.”
In a ruling which could not be reported until the conclusion of the trial, Mrs Justice Yip responded to legal arguments made at Manchester Crown Court during private sessions in which the defendant’s legal team set out the evidence they wanted to elicit in the case.
This included that there was a “background of hostility” between Nee's family and another family, the Hickmans, and that Nee had been shot at two weeks before the incident in which Olivia was killed.
The same self-loading pistol which was used by the gunman who killed Olivia was fired at Nee in the earlier incident on August 8, police said.
The court heard that in interviews, Nee gave differing accounts, initially saying he did not think the Hickmans were responsible but later telling police he had a “little falling out” with Lee Hickman and speculating that they could have been involved.
The prosecution set out reasons why four members of the Hickman family could be eliminated from inquiries, including that two of them were in prison at the time.
Another was in a pub making a phone call at the time of the shooting, according to CCTV and telephone evidence, the court heard.
In her ruling, Mrs Justice Yip said Lee Hickman had been interviewed under caution and gave an alibi which had been corroborated.
The defence sought to elicit further material supporting a feud between the two families, including a fight in prison involving two of them and an alleged “straightener” in a pub.
There was insufficient evidence Cashman was involved in the shooting on August 8 but he had not been eliminated by police, the court heard.
The incident happened at 9.40pm in Finch Way, Dovecot – close to Olivia’s home – when two rival groups, one in a car and the other on motorcycles, fired shots indiscriminately while near some playing fields.
In his summing up, David McLachlan KC, for the prosecution, told jurors that Cashman was "the gunman who shot Olivia and he is not prepared to own it."
He went on: “You know better than anyone when someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes; that’s what the prosecution say Thomas Cashman is trying to do.”
In the end, the jury disagreed with defence counsel John Cooper KC's assertion that there was no evidence against Cashman, describing the case against him as a “mad circle that is the prosecution”.
Cashman, of West Derby, Liverpool, had denied murdering Olivia, the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia’s mother, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was found unanimously guilty on all counts.
At the start of the trial, Mr McLachlan opened the case for the prosecution by telling the jury how Olivia was standing on the stairs behind her mum when she was hit in the chest by a bullet.
Little Olivia had been in bed when she heard a commotion outside her home around 10pm in Dovecot, Liverpool and her mum had gone outside to find out what was happening.
She was heard screaming "Mum I'm scared!" in midst of the chaos.
The gunman fired three shots at Nee from a 9mm self-loading pistol, one shot hitting him in the midriff. Nee stumbled but, as the attacker stood over him, his gun jammed and the victim ran to Olivia’s house to escape.
Cheryl tried to keep Nee from coming into her home as he was pursued and the gun was fired again.
The bullet missed Nee, went through the front door, through Cheryl's right hand and hit Olivia in the centre of her chest.
Cheryl was saying to her stricken daughter “Stay with me, baby” as Nee slumped on the hallway floor.
Nee had stumbled out of the house, collapsed in the middle of the road and used his mobile phone to summon help for himself.
He was picked up by five men in a black car before police arrived.
Police arrived at 10.10pm, and Olivia was tragically declared dead at Alder Hey Children's Hospital at 11.15pm.
Olivia’s mother was taken to Aintree Hospital for treatment of her right hand.
Prosecutors told the jury Cashman had been stalking Nee that day, before pouncing in the street where Olivia lived.
After the attack, they said, Cashman fled to the home of a woman he had a fling with, where she heard him say he had “done Joey”.
Cashman told the court that his activities were due to his work as a “high-level” cannabis dealer and that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was lying because she is a “woman scorned”.
The woman told the jury she had a "fling" with Cashman, was "infatuated" with him and that he "groomed" her.
The prosecutor said Cashman’s evidence was a “dummy’s guide to drug dealing in Dovecot”.
For the defence, Mr Cooper KC accused the prosecution of “Cinderella syndrome”, telling the jury: “We’ll force this evidence into a shoe that doesn’t fit and we’ll play the banging video again a couple of times.”
During the trial, mum Cheryl told how she thought she was going to die herself after the attack.
The court heard that as she cradled her bleeding daughter, Olivia’s brother Ryan was at the top of the stairs and screamed at Nee.
Describing how Olivia lay limp in her arms, Cheryl heartbreakingly told the court: “I couldn’t keep her awake."
The jury was also told Nee, who was the intended target in the shooting, was a convicted drug dealer with “enemies”.
The prosecutor said Nee was shot at by someone in March 2018, though there was no suggestion Cashman was involved in that attack.
He said: "As of August 22 2022, Joseph Nee and members of his immediate family had their enemies.”
The jury heard how Nee had convictions for conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, possession with intent to supply controlled drugs, possession of controlled drugs, burglary and theft, aggravated vehicle taking, theft of or from vehicles, associated motoring offences and a public order offence.
At one point during the trial, Cashman became tearful and said: “I’m getting blamed for killing a child. I’ve got my own children. I’m not a killer, I’m a dad. I’m getting blamed for something I haven’t done.”
An alibi witness, Nicky McHale, 32, told the trial he saw and spoke to Cashman around the time he was alleged to have shot dead Olivia.
Mr McHale rejected a prosecution suggestion he'd been "put-up" to testify he saw Cashman smoking cannabis in the garden of a house over the road from where he lived at the time of the shooting.
Cashman had not been charged with Olivia's death til October 1, 2022 - nearly six weeks after she died.
In the intervening period following the shooting, police arrested and released a number of suspects and numerous appeals for information were made - some by members of Olivia's family. Charity Crimestoppers increased its initial reward for finding Olivia’s killer to a record £200,000.
At Olivia's funeral in September, mourners wore a “splash of pink” in honour of the nine-year-old's favourite colour. Olivia's mum vowed never to say goodbye.
Cheryl said: "Olivia loved to sing and dance, she was always singing along to songs she enjoyed especially in the car where she was always in control of the CD player.
“Olivia had a great imagination. She was always doing impressions of her friends and parents and teachers at school.”
The youngster, who had dreamed of being a teacher or a vet also would have “made a great lawyer”, her mum said.
Cheryl continued: “Liv was loved and adored by everyone and she will never be forgotten. I will never say goodbye but what I will say is goodnight, I love you, and see you in the morning.”
