A self-confessed drug dealer has been convicted of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel at her home in Liverpool last August.
Thomas Cashman, 34, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia’s mother and two charges of possession of firearms by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.
Olivia died after Cashman fired shots into the family’s home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on 22 August 2022, during what prosecutors described as a “ruthless pursuit” to execute another man.
Image: Olivia Pratt-Korbel
Image: Thomas Cashman
Her death sent a shockwave throughout the community and across the country and a sense of horror that gun violence could spill into a family home.
Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel, holding a teddy bear, sat with her children in the court. There were gasps and tears from Olivia’s family as the verdicts were returned.
Image: Cheryl Korbel (left), Olivia’s mother, holds a teddy bear outside Manchester Crown Court after Thomas Cashman was found guilty
The judge confirmed that sentencing will take place on Monday 3 April.
After the verdict, Merseyside’s chief constable Serena Kennedy described Cashman as a “coward”.
She said: “He’s despicable. He made great play in the trial that he’s a dad and yet he’s put Olivia’s family through this trial. I hope he reflects every morning when he wakes up behind bars and every night when he goes to sleep about what he’s put Olivia’s family through.”
Image: John Francis Pratt (left), the father of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, leaves Manchester Crown Court after Thomas Cashman was found guilty of her murder
Paul Russell, 41, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at Liverpool Crown Court last October. The media were prevented from reporting his plea until the conclusion of Cashman’s trial.
He is also said to have disposed of a bag given to him by Cashman, which he believed to contain clothing.
At 7pm Sky News will broadcast a special programme: The murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel
‘Murder in mind’
In Cashman’s trial, the jury was told he had spent the day of Olivia’s killing “scoping out” his intended target, a convicted burglar called Joseph Nee. The prosecution said he had “murder in mind”.
The jury was shown security camera footage of the moment Cashman fired multiple shots at Nee in the street outside of Olivia’s home.
Image: CCTV images of the night have been released by Merseyside Police
Image: CCTV footage of Cashman on Rothbury Road, Liverpool, walking to Finch Lane on the afternoon of 22 August
After hearing the disturbance, her mother Ms Korbel had opened the front door and Nee took the opportunity to force his way inside to escape the gunman.
The court heard that Olivia had come down the stairs saying: “Mummy, I’m scared”.
The gunman continued firing into the family home, with one bullet striking Ms Korbel in the hand before hitting Olivia in the chest. She was pronounced dead in hospital.
Image: The bullet hole in Olivia’s door
Detective Superintendent Mark Baker, the senior investigating officer in the case, told Sky News: “The circumstances around it were just abhorrent. She was cowering behind her mum because she was scared in her own home.
“You always feel you’re safe in your own house. I think, as an investigation team, we could not believe that the gunman would continue to shoot into the house. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like that before.
“The community have been disgusted by his actions. They’ve been in fear of him for a long, long time. He will know himself and will have to carry that responsibility.”
The jury was also shown a video of the police interview with Ms Korbel in which she recounted what happened that night and described the moment she knew Olivia “had gone”.
Image: Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel
A key witness in the trial, a woman with whom Cashman had had a sexual relationship, told the jury that she was woken by him in her bedroom shortly after the shooting asking for a change of clothes. She said she also heard him say he had “done Joey”.
Police praised the bravery of the witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for her “powerful and emotional” evidence.
Image: The moment Cashman was arrested
‘I’m a dad, I’m not a killer’
Cashman had denied he was the gunman that night and told police “you’ve got an innocent man” when he was arrested a month later.
Giving evidence to the jury, he said he had been going about his business as a drug dealer at the time of the shooting. “I’m a dad, I’m not a killer,” he told the jury.
Image: Cables from a missing CCTV recorder found by police at Cashman’s home
The two firearms used by the gunman on the night in August last year have not been recovered and the investigation into Olivia’s death continues.
Police have vowed to continue to remove guns and drugs from the street. “Olivia’s death should not have been in vain,” said Det Supt Baker.
Image: Thomas Cashman
Maria Corr, a senior crown prosecutor with the CPS Mersey-Cheshire complex casework unit, told Sky News: “We’re only a small wheel in the cog here, nothing will bring Olivia back, this is just for the family, some sense of justice, the person who ruined their lives, we’ve now got justice for them.”
At the time of her death, Olivia’s family described her as “unique, chatty, nosey little girl who broke the mould when she was born”. They added: “She loved life and all it had to offer.
“Although her life was short, her personality certainly wasn’t and she lived it to the most she could, and would blow people away with her wit and kindness.”
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Image: Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Image: Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Image: Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
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Image: Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
Image: JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
Image: A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
Image: A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
Image: JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Image: Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.