How day of Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s murder unfolded as gunman Thomas Cashman jailed

Gunman Thomas Cashman has been jailed

Eleanor Barlow
Monday 03 April 2023 16:08 BST
Moment Olivia Pratt-Korbel's murderer Thomas Cashman is arrested on his birthday

Gunman Thomas Cashman spent a day “scoping out” his target before the shooting which killed nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

The schoolgirl was fatally shot on 22 August last year when gunman Thomas Cashman - who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years on Monday afternoon - chased convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee into her home in Dovecott.

The jury heard the schoolgirl had run downstairs after hearing shots outside, saying “I’m scared mummy”.

The bullet which killed Olivia was fired through the front door, hitting Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel in the hand before striking the nine-year-old girl in the chest. Nee, a 36-year-old with a number of previous convictions, was injured before he ran towards the house.

Cashman then fled the scene, running across back gardens.

Here is a look at how the events of the day unfolded:

2pm – Joseph Nee, the intended target of the shooting, arrives at the house of Timothy Naylor in Finch Lane in Dovecot, Liverpool. He is driving a Volkswagen Transporter van.

3pm – Thomas Cashman leaves his home in Grenadier Drive in the West Derby area of Liverpool driving a white Citroen Berlingo. His trial heard he was “scoping out” Nee. He drives onto Finch Lane then left onto Kingsheath Avenue, where he would have a view of Nee’s van, before driving to his sister Coleen’s house in Mab Lane.

Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot at her home in Liverpool

3.17pm – Cashman leaves his sister’s house and drives past Dovecot Labour Club, with a view of Nee’s van on Finch Lane.

3.32pm – Nee leaves Finch Lane to go to Screwfix. Cashman arrives back at his sister’s house and leaves two minutes later on foot.

3.56pm – Cashman, with his hood up, arrives on foot at the corner of Berryford Road and looks in the direction of Mr Naylor’s house in Finch Lane before turning around. Nee’s van is no longer parked outside. The prosecution alleged Cashman intended to shoot Nee, but was “thwarted” because he was no longer there.

4.05pm – Cashman arrives back at his sister’s house where he stays for four minutes before driving away in his Citroen Berlingo to Finch Lane and stopping at his brother Kevin Dunne’s house, where he would have a view of Mr Naylor’s property.

4.46pm – Cashman leaves his brother’s house and drives along Finch Lane into Kingsheath Avenue.

A young girl lays a tribute in Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, Liverpool

5.15pm – Cashman drives past Finch Lane again.

5.20pm – He arrives back at home on Grenadier Drive. In the two hours and 20 minutes since he left home he has been past Timothy Naylor’s address on six occasions.

6.42pm – Cashman leaves Grenadier Drive.

7.03pm – He drives into Finch Road, with a view of Finch Lane, before driving around and returning to Finch Lane and his brother’s address where he stops for six minutes.

7.16pm – Cashman drives along Finch Lane.

Thomas Cashman was found guilty of murder

7.23pm – Cashman drives along Finch Lane again. Nee’s van has not been outside Mr Naylor’s home since earlier in the afternoon. Cashman drives home.

7.53pm – Nee arrives back at Mr Naylor’s house ahead of the football match between Liverpool and Manchester United, which kicks off at 8pm.

8.04pm – Cashman leaves his home and again drives to Finch Lane. He then drives to Snowberry Road, where his friends Craig Byrne and Nicky McHale live, and returns to Finch Lane. Nee’s van would have been visible on both these occasions.

8.22pm – Cashman arrives home where he stays for eight minutes before leaving again, driving along Finch Lane, where he would have been able to see Nee’s van, and then driving to his sister’s house on Mab Lane.

8.59pm – Cashman leaves his sister’s house, dressed in black, and drives to Aspes Road, where he parks his van.

Thomas Cashman (centre), 34, at Manchester Crown Court

9pm – Cashman walks along Finch Lane in the direction of Yew Tree Cemetery.

9.21pm – CCTV shows Cashman walking along Finch Lane in the direction of Kingsheath Avenue, where he would lie in wait for Nee armed with two weapons.

9.52pm – The Liverpool vs Manchester United football match ends. Nee leaves Mr Naylor’s house shortly afterwards.

9.59pm – CCTV footage shows Nee and Paul Abraham being chased up Kingsheath Avenue by the gunman, who fires three shots in the street. Cheryl Korbel opens her front door to see what the noise is and Nee runs towards it with Cashman in pursuit. Two more shots are fired, one of which goes through the front door, hitting Ms Korbel in the wrist and striking Olivia in the chest.

10pm – A 999 call is made.

Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel

10.02pm – Cashman is seen back in Finch Lane, running across the road to Berryford Road. He is seen in Standedge Way and from there is believed to have run through gardens to flee the scene.

10.11pm – Two armed officers arrive at the scene and take Olivia to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

10.47pm – Cashman, who fled to the house of a woman he had a fling with, is driven back to his van in Aspes Road by Paul Russell.

10.55pm – Cashman drives to Snowberry Road.

11.18pm – Paul McCarthy, who is staying with his friend Nicky McHale on Snowberry Road, gives Cashman a lift to Mab Lane.

11.24pm – Olivia is pronounced dead at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

11.40pm – Cashman leaves Mab Lane on a bike, heading towards Playfield Walk, where his niece Bobbi Bailey lives.

11.50pm – Bobbi Bailey drives to Cashman’s home address.

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