Thomas Cashman has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the nine-year-old schoolgirl by a jury on Thursday last week. She was shot dead in her own home on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot in one of the most horrific crimes in Merseyside's history.
Cashman was due to return to court to be sentenced this afternoon, Monday, but refused to appear in the dock to learn his fate. Professor John Cooper KC, defending, said that his client was "concerned that the matter was turning into a circus" and claimed that he had heard representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service "loudly" singing 'We are the Champions' after the verdict was delivered.
