A love triangle and two specks of gunpowder on a pair of Under Armour tracksuit bottoms helped to prove that Thomas Cashman was the man who shot Olivia Pratt-Korbel dead.
The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years this week after being unanimously found guilty of the schoolgirl's murder. She was killed aged nine in her own home on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot on the evening of August 22 last year.
One of the key pieces of evidence in the trial was the testimony of a woman whom Cashman had previously had a sexual relationship, behind the back of his long-term partner Kayleeanne Sweeney. This witness cannot be identified for legal reasons, but she reported to the police that the killer appeared by her bedside following the shooting before making an apparent confession.
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She had dozed off while reading a bedtime story to her children, but around two hours later was woken by Cashman tapping on her leg saying "it's Tommy, it's Tommy". He had no trousers on and had his head in his hands, telling her: "I didn't know where else to go. I trust you."
The late night visitor asked her to get him a pair of pants and was handed him a pair of navy blue Under Armour tracksuit bottoms belonging to her boyfriend, Paul Russell. She and Cashman had been having an affair behind the backs of their respective partners, a fling which had been ongoing for some two years after an exchange of flirty messages on Instagram.
He asked her "do you feel what I feel?". The woman responded: "Why do your eyes undress me all the time?"
The relationship continued "on, off for months" but soured after a pregnancy scare, while he had also told Russell's brother that she wanted to move away with him to Spain and set up an OnlyFans account. She said this had inevitably got back to her own partner and caused "murder" between them, but later denied in court having wanted a relationship with a "thug with a little willy".
Back in her bedroom in the night of August 22, Cashman was stuttering and saying "someone was coming for him". An ally had told him that someone had been "sitting him off, observing him".
He implored her, "no one can know I'm here". But, against Cashman's wishes, she called Russell.
At the doorstep, she heard the two men discussing "Joey Nee". Upon his arrival, Russell was reported to have said to Cashman: “Lad, don’t wanna hear it, don’t tell me nothing."
But, in an apparent confession, Cashman told Russell: "I've done Joey."
Soon after, they headed off in the family car - Cashman wearing Russell's trackie bottoms, a recently washed and mismatched black and grey Under Armour t-shirt of his which had been drying on a radiator and a grey and yellow pair of Nike sliders. He had left his "murder clothing", including a pair of Monterrain trackies, in a pile by the washing machine.
Russell would get rid of these incriminating items by taking them round to the house of a Cashman associate called Craig Byrne after giving the would-be hitman a lift back to his van, helping to cover for the very man who was secretly having sex with his girlfriend. The guns have never been found, although the woman reported that her once lover told her he had "dropped the bits off" before arriving at her house.
The next morning, she heard the news of Olivia's death. When she heard Nee's name being reported in the media as the intended target of the shooting, she put two and two together.
On the sixth day of Cashman's trial, the prosecution called her as what was arguably its most vital witness. Giving evidence from behind a screen, she spent a day-and-a-half on the stand being cross-examined by the defendant's brief Professor John Cooper KC.
Yet her version of events on the evening of August 22 occupied less than 10 minutes of that time. Topics instead included sexual fluids, Cashman's underwhelming performance in the bedroom, chlamydia and a collection of intimate pictures saved in a hidden album on a phone and referred to as the "Tommy file".
High Court judge Justice Amanda Yip had to step in as a peacemaker on several occasions as the exchange became fiery. One difficult piece of evidence for the witness to face was a text she had sent to a friend a month prior to Olivia's murder in which she said she wanted to "ruin him like he's done to me".
She claimed this was because she had learned that Cashman had also been seeing one of Ms Sweeney's closest friends, and she was planning to set up a burner Instagram account in order to expose him as a "rat". There were further accusations to throw at her however.
Russell was said to have racked up a £25,000 drug debt to Cashman after he supplied him with five kilos of cannabis. She herself was in rent arrears amounting to £2,500, and was also said to have been after the £200,000 reward money.
But she claimed to have one motive, telling the jury: "I’m sorry, I can’t forgive anyone who has hurt any child. If he was any sort of man he’d just f****** own it.
"I can’t believe he’s making the family go through what they’re going through. It’s a child.
"She can never go home ever again. It breaks my heart."
By coming forward and speaking out, she said she had risked her own skin, adding: "You’re implying I’ve ruined your client’s life, yet I’ve ruined my life. I am sitting here for what, because I’m angry?
"I’m mad? No.
"I’m sitting here for the little girl. I’ve not been asked one question about her."
Cashman's legal team were keen to paint the witness as either a woman scorned, someone who wanted the reward money or being out to fit him up for murder as her boyfriend owed him a substantial drug debt. But there was one piece of vital evidence which backed up what she was saying.
The tracksuit bottoms given to him were recovered from his sister's home on Mab Lane on September 5, the day after his first arrest in connection with Olivia's murder, stashed inside a cardboard box originating from a pram. Forensic examinations found both his and Russell's DNA on them.
Crucially, two particles of type one gunshot residue - matching that found at the scene of the shooting - were discovered on the outer surface of the right leg. This gave support "for the proposition that they had been put on by the firer after the incident".
The Under Armour t-shirt given to him on the night of the shooting was also found in the same box, with Cashman's blood found in the inner surface. It was speculated that this speck may have been as a result of a minor cut or scrape sustained as he garden hopped away from the scene.
Cashman did come up with a story hoping to explain the gunshot residue on the Under Armour trackies. He cited a rendevouz with the woman after she had been one of the first people on the scene of another shooting in which a man was injured.
He said this escapade had occurred in her kitchen, and she had given him the items of Russell's clothing after sexual fluids were transferred to the top and trousers he was wearing at the time - fearing that he would be rumbled by his girlfriend if she saw the stains. This however clashed with her account, which stated that the encounter had taken place in her bedroom and he had only been wearing his "boxies" and socks, while she had not handed him the change of clothes at this time.
Cashman claimed that he had been counting £10,000 in ill-gotten cash from his drug dealing activities at Mr Byrne's house and smoking a spliff at the time Olivia was shot dead. Later, he supposedly spotted Russell driving down Snowberry Road, flagged him down and grabbed a lift with him to Aspes Road.
Cashman admitted that he had exerted some pressure on his driver as a result of the £25k debt. This included threats to take his graft phone and his "nice car" from him.
When pressed on this point by the prosecution, he said: "He was taking the p***. I told him if he doesn’t pay the money, I’ll take his graft phone and his car.
"If he didn’t give it me, well, he would have ended up getting a punch or something. If I let people do that all the time, I wouldn’t be able to sell cannabis."
Russell previously pleaded guilty to assisting an offender in relation to his involvement. The 41-year-old, of Snowberry Road, is awaiting sentence and has been remanded in custody since his guilty plea in October.
Manchester Crown Square Crown Court heard during a three-and-a-half-week trial that when Nee left the address with another man, Paul Abraham, the gunman approached them from behind and opened fire with a self-loading Glock-style pistol. A chilling piece of CCTV footage showed Mr Abraham running for his life as two loud bangs rang out.
Nee was shot in the midriff at this point and stumbled to the floor as a result of his injuries. David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, described how Cashman had "murder on his mind" and stood over the helpless 35-year-old and attempted to discharge the firearm again as he begged: "Please don't, don't lad".
But the gun malfunctioned, and Nee was able to escape. Cashman however continued his "ruthless pursuit" as he fled towards the Korbel family home.
Forty-six-year-old Cheryl, alarmed by the gunfire outside, had stepped out of her house to investigation but quickly rushed back indoors when she saw Nee running towards her and away from Cashman - who was dressed all in black and had his face covered. She then tussled with the gunman's intended target in an attempt to keep her front door shut and to keep him out of the property, but was unable to fully close it as it had been left on the latch in order to allow the neighbours to let themselves in for a cup of tea.
The assailant fired another shot with a second, backup weapon - a 0.3 caliber revolver - at this point. This was the shot which claimed Olivia's life, the bullet passing through the door and travelling through the mother's hand before striking her in the chest.
The schoolgirl had been upstairs in bed, but was heard to say "mummy, I'm scared" as she ran to the bottom of the stairs to her mum having been startled by the commotion. With Nee by now inside, Cashman then forced his arm around the door and fired one final shot which became lodged in the doorframe.
Olivia was scooped up by the first police officer to arrive at the scene and rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after being critically injured, but was pronounced dead shortly before 11.30pm. There were emotional scenes in court as Cheryl Korbel recounted the tragedy in a video interview with police, which was played to the jury.
In it, she said: "I heard the baby screaming, that’s when I turned round and spotted her sat at the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t keep her awake.
"I knew she’d gone. I knew she’d gone."
Nee was bundled into a car by his associates and taken to Whiston Hospital, later being transferred to Aintree Hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to the chest and lower abdomen. Cashman meanwhile escaped the scene of the shooting by leaping through back gardens.
The attacker was also identified to have worn distinctive Monterrain trackies which matched a pair owned by Cashman. But he claimed in his evidence that he had no involvement in the shooting and was counting £10,000 in cash and "smoking a spliff" at Mr Byrne's house at the time.
The defendant also stated he had "no problems" with the Nee family and counted them as friends. The father-of-two, who was defended by Professor John Cooper KC, said on the witness box: "I'm not a killer, I'm a dad."
Cashman was unanimously found guilty of Olivia's murder, attempting to murder Joseph Nee, wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm against Cheryl Korbel and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years on Monday.
Sentencing him in his absence after he refused to appear in the dock, Justice Amanda Yip said: "The killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel is an offence that shocked not only the city of Liverpool, but the nation. Olivia’s name is likely to be remembered for many years.
"She should not be remembered only for her dreadful last moments. Her family have spoken today of Olivia in life and of the hopes and dreams for her future, which were so cruelly snatched away.
"It is plain that Olivia was a lovely little girl, who cared for others and brightened the lives of her family and friends. They have suffered an unimaginable loss which they must carry for the rest of their lives."
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2023-04-09 03:00:00Z
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