‘I’m scared,’ screamed Olivia before shooting
‘Ruthless’ gunman’s bullet went through her mother’s hand before hitting nineyear-old in chest, court told
Olivia Pratt-korbel screamed “Mum, I’m scared” moments before a masked gunman shot the nine-year-old in her own home, Manchester Crown Court heard. She was allegedly murdered by Thomas Cashman who was “ruthlessly pursuing” another man through Knotty Ash in Liverpool. Her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, who was injured in the shooting, pleaded with her daughter to “stay with me, baby” after a gunman chased burglar Joseph Nee, 34, into their home on Aug 22 last year.
‘This is what this case is all about. It is about the ruthless pursuit by Thomas Cashman to shoot Joseph Nee at all costs’
A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl screamed “Mum, I’m scared” moments before a masked gunman shot her in her own home, a court has heard.
Olivia Pratt-korbel was allegedly murdered by Thomas Cashman who, Manchester Crown Court was told, was “ruthlessly pursuing” another man through the streets of Knotty Ash in Liverpool.
Her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, was also injured in the shooting and pleaded “Stay with me, baby” to her daughter after the gunman chased convicted burglar Joseph Nee, 34, into their home on Aug 22, 2022.
Opening the trial, David Mclachlan KC, prosecuting, told jurors Mr Cashman, 34, carried out the attack without “any consideration” for others. He was “relentless” in his pursuit of Mr Nee, Mr Mclachlan told the court. “This is what this case is all about. It is about the ruthless pursuit by Thomas Cashman to shoot Joseph Nee at all costs.”
The court heard that on the day of the attack, Mr Cashman had spent hours monitoring Mr Nee’s movements around the Dovecote area, in the east of the city.
He tracked him to an address on Finch Lane, after seeing his white van parked outside earlier in the day. By the early evening, Mr Nee was inside, watching a football match between Liverpool and Manchester United and Mr Cashman was “lying in wait”.
Mr Mclachlan continued: “It was now ‘game on’ .... [Mr Cashman] had done his checks, done his due diligence, he knew the van was there, the target was there, he knew the target was where he wanted him to be”.
When the match finished, shortly before 10pm, Mr Nee and another man left the house.
Outside, Mr Cashman was lying in wait with “not one, but two guns in his possession”, the court heard.
Moments after Mr Nee left the property, CCTV footage from a neighbouring property captured a gunman approaching the two men and firing three shots from a 9mm pistol at Mr Nee, one of which hit him in the chest.
Mr Mclachlan said the man chasing Nee “meant business, and it wasn’t good”. The gunman then stood over Mr Nee, who had fallen to the ground, and tried to fire a fourth time, but the weapon appeared to malfunction.
Cheryl Korbel, who had been drinking tea with two neighbours, heard the loud bangs and opened her front door to see what was going on.
As she did so, Mr Nee saw the light from her hallway and sprinted towards it, pursued by his attacker, the court heard.
Realising the “gravity” of the situation, Ms Korbel tried to get back inside and shut the door but was unable to close it fully as it was on the latch.
The court heard the gunman fired at fourth shot at Mr Nee from a different firearm, a revolver, as his target banged on the door pleading with Ms Korbel to open it for him.
The bullet travelled past Mr Nee, through Ms Korbel’s hand, and into the chest of Olivia, who had come down from the first floor after hearing the loud bangs. Images shown to the court revealed a blood-smeared door handle that Ms Korbel had desperately tried to hold shut.
Olivia’s brother, Ryan, told police he heard her get out of bed and run down the stairs screaming “Mum, I’m scared” seconds before the fatal gunshot.
Ms Korbel was saying to her stricken daughter “Stay with me, baby” as Nee slumped on the hallway floor.
Mr Nee managed to get inside the house as Ms Korbel tried to save her daughter’s life, but the gunman barged the door and fired another shot into it before running away.
Mr Nee stumbled out of the house and called friends to take him to hospital. Armed police arrived shortly after and tried to save Olivia’s life but she was pronounced dead at 23.15pm.
After fleeing the scene of the”shooting that had gone horribly wrong”, Mr Cashman, prosecutors allege, went to the home of someone he knew and trusted. “[It was] a place he thought he could seek refuge. A safe haven in what had become extremely difficult circumstances,” Mr Mclachlan said. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described Mr Cashman as being “nervous” and claimed she heard him say he had “done Joey”.
She said that Mr Cashman told her to get him new clothes and she gave him blue tracksuit bottoms, a T-shirt that he took off a radiator and some Nike sandals.
The jury was told Mr Cashman was driven back to his house on the night of the shooting by a relative after making a number of short trips to other addresses. When he was arrested, Mr Cashman told officers: “You’ve got an innocent man.”
Mr Cashman, of West Derby, Liverpool, denies the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Mr Nee and the wounding with intent of Cheryl Korbel. He also denies two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
The trial, which is expected to last four weeks, continues.