Child murderer Thomas Cashman will be “eaten alive” in prison, an ex-gangster has warned.
The 34-year-old killer was sentenced to at least 42 years behind bars for the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
During a botched assassination attempt against career criminal Joseph Nee in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 last year, he fired bullets into the family's home, before fleeing.
But Cashman refused to face the judge, and Olivia’s family, for his sentencing this week, and now faces spending most of the rest of his life in prison.
Former drug dealer Sam Walker, who claimed to mix in the same circles as Cashman for over a decade, has warned the killer won’t last long in prison.
He warned he would be “eaten alive” and said his “persona” didn’t bode well for prison life.
Walker said that Cashman “cannot fight”, he explained.
He said: “Anyone can be dangerous with a gun but that’s why he’s f***** in prison.
“That’s why he was crying in the dock after he got found guilty. What murderer do you know starts crying after they get convicted?
“And the fact that he wouldn’t go up (to the court) to be sentenced.
“Any proper man wouldn’t have been crying for one.”
Walker recently got released from prison himself after spending two years behind bars, and revealed Cashman was viewed in Liverpool as a “weirdo, who had no real friends”.
Cashman was also said to be known as “the fiddler” because of how touchy-feely he was.
Walker rubbished alleged rumours of a bounty on Cashman’s head and said he’d likely end up in the maximum security prison HMP Wakefield - known to hold notorious killers like Ian Huntley.
The killing shocked Merseyside and the country, and was the third such killing in the region that week.
In an emotional statement read out by Olivia’s mum Cheryl during the trial, where she held onto a teddy bear made out of Olivia's pyjamas, she told the court: “I cannot get my head around how Cashman continued to shoot after hearing the terrifying screams.
“The utter devastation he has caused. He doesn’t care, how could he?”
Following the sentencing, in a second statement made outside of court, Cheryl said that the family’s life sentence had only just started.
The 46-year-old said: "She was my baby, she had amazing qualities and knew what she wanted in life.
"Everyone adored her. She was the baby of our family … justice has prevailed and I cannot begin to express our relief.
“We welcome the sentence given but what I can say is that my family and I have already started our life sentence having to spend the rest of our lives without Olivia.”
Speaking after the conviction on behalf of Olivia's heartbroken father, Louise Pratt, her aunt, said that Olivia had “died a scared nine-year-old, and we hope [Thomas] Cashman is haunted by this knowledge for the rest of his life".
She also said that the family was happy with the outcome, but "will not be celebrating", following the “hardest seven months” of their lives.
They also thanked the jury for the decision and the witness who showed the “courage” to speak up, alongside Merseyside Police and their legal team for getting justice for “our Olivia”.
Louise also spoke out for other gun crime victims across Merseyside, like the family of Elle Edwards, and said they hoped they got the justice they deserved.
