The man accused of the fatal shooting of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel will claim the gunman "wasn't me", a jury was told.
Proceedings got underway at Manchester Crown Court today where 34-year-old Thomas Cashman, of Grenadier Drive, West Derby, is standing trial for the murder of the schoolgirl, on Monday, August 22, last year. Olivia died after being struck in the chest at her family home in Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, around 10pm.
Her mum, Cheryl Korbel, was also injured in the shooting, along with a man called Joseph Nee. Cashman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Mr Nee and to wounding Miss Korbel with intent to inflict GBH. He also denies 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.
READ MORE: Live court updates as Thomas Cashman trial over Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder begins
Today the trial judge, Mrs Justice Amanda Yip, introduced the case to the jury panel. She told them in court: "The trial concerns a shooting in Liverpool in August of last year which involved the death of a nine-year-old girl called Olivia Pratt-Korbel
“The defendant is Thomas Cashman. He is charged with murdering Olivia....
"In simple terms, he says it wasn’t him."
A jury of 10 men and two women was selected, with two men acting as reserve jurors until the end of the prosecution opening. After the jurors were sworn in, Justice Yip told them: "Naturally the death of any child is a sensitive topic, one where it’s normal to experience emotional reaction.
"It’s important to put those emotions aside so you can properly consider the case to arrive at the right verdicts. You may well have seen or read things about the case. That isn’t a problem.
“You will have the evidence presented to you, the issues will be made clear and you will decide whether the prosecution have made you sure of Mr Cashman’s guilt.
“You are coming to it from scratch. Anything you have seen before, put it out of your mind."
Earlier in the day, the family of Olivia arrived at court ahead of the trial.
Mum Cheryl Korbel arrived with other family members including siblings Chloe and Ryan and aunties Antonia and Kim. Dad, John Francis Pratt, was also in attendance.
Cashman arrived at court with an armed police escort. Images from outside Manchester Crown Court showed the van that the 34-year-old was being escorted in arriving for the trial
David McLachlan, KC, will open the prosecution case tomorrow morning.
PROCEEDING
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