If you know Olivia’s killer, don’t protect them

DETECTIVES hunting the killer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel have urged the public to hand over her murderer’s name in an emotional appeal.

Olivia was shot dead last Monday when a balaclava-clad gunman chased his target, former drug dealer Joseph Nee, into the little girl’s home in the Dovecot area of Liverpool. Her mother, Cheryl, 46, was also shot.

In a dramatic Merseyside Police video appeal on Twitter, a voiceover playing over pictures of the child states: ‘We’ve got parents who’ve lost their children. We’ve got a nine-year-old girl who won’t celebrate her 18th birthday. She won’t celebrate her wedding. She won’t have children of her own. If you’ve got information and you’re withholding it, you’re protecting the killers.’

As well as images of Olivia and flowers at the scene of the shooting, the video also featured pictures of Ashley Dale, 28, and Sam Rimmer, 22 – who were also killed in

Merseyside, within a week of each other. The force said yesterday: ‘Sadly we now all know Olivia, Ashley and Sam’s names. Now we need their killers.’

Her family urged people to ‘do the right thing’ and said speaking up ‘is not about being a “snitch” or a “grass”, it is about finding out who took our baby away’.

Two men, aged 36 and 33, were arrested over Olivia’s death and bailed on Saturday. The 36-year-old has been recalled to prison after breaching the terms of his licence.

Police ‘rummage search’ dogs were seen outside Olivia’s house yesterday afternoon as officers scoured the area for clues.

It came as Merseyside Police announced last night that 170 people had been arrested in a crackdown on organised crime. Two guns, 46 vehicles and a significant amount of drugs have also been seized after 58 raids across Liverpool, Knowsley and St Helens.

Merseyside Police said it had received more than 280 pieces of intelligence from the public about organised crime.