A “ruthless” drug dealer is facing life in prison after being found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in a shooting that repulsed Britain.
Thomas Cashman, 34, was convicted of killing the “unique, chatty” little girl who had been getting ready to go to bed when he burst into her family home in Liverpool last August.
Olivia was standing behind her mother when Cashman opened fire while chasing another local criminal, Joseph Nee, who had sought refuge inside after seeing that the door was open. She was fatally struck by a single bullet that had gone through the door and the hand of her screaming mother, Cheryl Korbel.
Korbel, who attended every day of the near four-week trial, said she was “ecstatic” at the guilty verdict, and held aloft a pink teddy bear as she left Manchester crown court.
Cashman sobbed in the dock as he was also found guilty of attempting to murder Nee, wounding Korbel with intent by shooting her through the hand, and two counts of possessing firearms. The jury had deliberated for around nine hours.
Leave a comment