Thomas Cashman, a self-proclaimed “high-level” drug dealer, was found guilty of killing schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel today. Cashman, 34, of Grenadier Drive, Liverpool, was convicted of the murder of Olivia, nine after a three-and-a-half week trial. 

The incident at the Pratt-Korbel family home on August 22, 2022, rattled the country, with Cashman’s lawyer, John Cooper KC, branding his client “probably one of the most hated people in the country”.

In his closing speech at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, said it was a “case that shocked not simply a city not too far away from here but also a nation”.

Little is known about Cashman, who lives on Grenadier Drive, Liverpool, aside from what the court has released.

Jurors have decided following the trial at Manchester Crown Court that he was the gunman who chased Nee down Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot, where the Pratt-Korbel family lived, and shot him several times.

The convicted killer shot Olivia and her mother while targeting drug dealer Nee, 36, as he attempted to flee to safety.

The court heard that Nee tried to enter the home owned by Cheryl Korbel, who blocked his entry.

Cashman then discharged a shot from a 9mm pistol that travelled through Ms Korbel’s hand and hit her daughter, killing her.

Speaking in court, Cashman denied he was the gunman, stating he was “getting the blame for something I haven’t done”.

He admitted he was a drug dealer but was “a dad”, adding: “I’m not a killer.”

He said he was at the home of a friend, Craig Byrne, on the night of the shooting, where he was counting £10,000 in cash and smoking a spliff.

He told the court: “We counted money then went downstairs, I done myself a spliff in the kitchen, went in the back garden and was having just a general chit-chat with Craig.”

Cashman also had a fiancee, his lawyer disclosed in court but revealed he also had a “sordid” relationship with another woman.

The unnamed woman delivered a witness statement that alleged Cashman had come to her home after the shooting to change his clothes.

She added that he told her he had “done Joey”, a claim Cashman rejected.

The defendant said she was a “woman scorned” who was telling “downright lies”.

In his closing remarks, Mr Cooper said he was “not putting Cashman to you as an angel, and argued it was easy to make claims as the defendant sat in the dock.

He said: “The suggestions are easy to make because the defendant is sitting in the dock, the only person there, probably one of the most hated people in the country.”

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