London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2026

Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Mum 'knew she had gone', trial hears

Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Mum 'knew she had gone', trial hears

The mother of a nine-year-old girl shot dead in her home cried as she told officers: "I knew she had gone" in an interview played in court.

Cheryl Korbel said the "horrendous" sound of the shot, which went through her wrist then hit Olivia Pratt-Korbel, would stay with her forever.

Thomas Cashman is accused of being the gunman who carried out the attack in Dovecot, Liverpool, on 22 August.

The 34-year-old denies the murder of Olivia and is on trial.

Manchester Crown Court heard how the gunman fired through the front door of the Korbel family home just after 22:00 BST.

He had been chasing Joseph Nee, who is said to have been the intended target, through the street, the trial heard.


'Like a movie'


Ms Korbel often became emotional in the 50-minute video, which was recorded with a police officer a week after the shooting and showed her right arm was bandaged with a visible blood stain.

Many of Olivia's family cried as they listened to her testimony.

Ms Korbel said: "[It was] horrendous. Horrendous... It was like off a movie.

"The sounds that they make... it was the sound of it going through my wrist as well. It's hard to explain the sound."

Mr Cashman watched the video inside the glass-walled dock.

At one point he wiped away tears with his hand and a dock officer gave him a tissue during Ms Korbel's interview.

Ms Korbel told police she had heard bangs outside her home and when she went outside to look, she saw a man coming up the road.

Olivia's mother Cheryl Korbel was also injured in the shooting


She said: "Then I spotted this other lad behind him, dressed all in black, couldn't see his face or nothing, and I realised at that point that it was gunshots because, like, the other one was running after him.

"At that point I realised he was running towards me so I ran back to the house."

Ms Korbel said she closed her front door but it did not shut properly because it was left on the catch.

Speaking through tears, the mother-of-three, said: "I tried to keep hold of the door, I was just screaming, screaming to go away and then I heard the gunshot and I realised, because I felt it hit my hand.

"I couldn't keep the door shut because it wasn't locked, and with my hand I couldn't keep it shut, so I let it go and I think at the same time I heard the baby [Olivia] speak and that's when I turned round and I spotted her sat at the bottom of the stairs.

"I leant over her and like held her to the left, I just huddled over."


'I can't do this'


Ms Korbel said her son Ryan helped her to carry Olivia up the stairs and she shouted for a towel to stop the bleeding.

She added: "Ryan turned round and said to me 'Mum, I can't do this' so I tried to move the baby again up to the top of the stairs.

"I heard the lad downstairs shouting 'please lad, don't' and I heard another gunshot.

"I couldn't keep her awake."

She added: "[Olivia] went all floppy and her eyes went to the back of her head and I realised that she must have been hit because I didn't know until then and I lifted her top up and the bullet had got her right in the middle of the chest."

She said a neighbour came in and started CPR on Olivia.

She added: "I knew she'd gone. Then the police turned up and came up and just picked her up and took her out the house."

Thomas Cashman is accused of murdering the schoolgirl


Ms Korbel said she was taken to hospital for treatment to her hand and while she was there, she was told Olivia "had gone".

"I just went hysterical screaming I wanted my baby," she said.

She described a phone call with a friend who was with Olivia at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

Ms Korbel told police: "She told me she was with the baby and I told her not to leave her on her own and she promised me that she wouldn't.

"She said she looked like she was sleeping, so I made her promise she wouldn't leave her on her own."

Asked to go through the incident again by a detective taking notes, Ms Korbel said time seemed to slow down as she saw the gunman and another man run towards her.

She said: "Although they were running, it was like it was in slow motion.

"My wrist was, blood was just squirting everywhere. I screamed, 'I've been shot'."

Ms Korbel said she thought she heard Olivia say "mum", and when she turned around her daughter was sat on the second step of the stairs and did not realise what had happened until she carried her daughter further up the steps.

Olivia was standing behind her mother on the stairs


"She was gasping for breath," Ms Korbel said.

"I was screaming for her to stay with me. There was blood everywhere. I kept saying it was mine... but I knew it was not right.

"So I lifted her top, then that's when I realised she had been shot in the chest.

"I was just screaming, 'Please Liv, stay with me'."

After the video finished, the judge, Mrs Justice Yip told the jury: "I'm conscious that this is difficult evidence - I know that you will put your emotions aside when you consider your verdicts but that doesn't mean that we don't feel emotion, and I'm conscious that this is difficult."

Earlier the court heard how Mr Nee, the intended target of the shooting, shouted "please don't" as his friend ran "for his life".

A police interview with Paul Abraham, 41, who was with Mr Nee when the gunman opened fire was shown to the jury.

He said that he and Mr Nee had left a friend's house that evening when he heard loud bangs.

He said: "Both of us ran. One must have got Joey.

"He fell over. I don't even know when he got shot, he just fell.

"As he rolled over I just basically jumped over him and went through a gate."


'Please don't'


Mr Abraham said he saw Mr Nee continue running up the street, and the attacker, with two hands on what he thought was a gun, walking up the road.

He said: "As I was going up the entry [Mr Nee] was saying 'please don't', I heard him shouting 'please, don't'."

Mr Abraham said he thought he heard two further bangs as he jumped over fences of back gardens to get away.

He said: "I was just running for my life, basically."

Mr Cashman, of Grenadier Drive, West Derby, Liverpool, denies the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Mr Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia's mother, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Confirms Rejected Asylum Seekers to Remain Amid Enforcement Challenges
UK-China Economic Talks Focus on Services Trade and High-Value Sectors
Buckingham Palace Revamp Plans Unveiled to Modernise Royal and Public Facilities
Two Dead After Light Aircraft Crash in Essex Field, Investigation Underway
Princess Diana Marked at 65 With UK Tributes Reflecting on Her Public Legacy
England Teachers Face New Pay Cap Rules for Academy School Leaders Under Education Reform
Dublin Security Alert Escalates After Stabbing and Reports of Transport Disruption
UK Government Faces Scrutiny Over £10,000 Asylum Living Cost Contribution Requirement
England Prepares World Cup Knockout Match Against Democratic Republic of Congo
Northern Rail Project Warned of HS2-Style Cost Risks by UK Parliamentary Committee
UK Tightens Asylum Rules as Most Rejected Applicants Expected to Remain in Country
UK Heat Health Alert Issued as Temperatures Expected to Exceed 30°C Across England
Halifax Brand to Disappear From UK High Streets in Lloyds Banking Group Restructuring
England Teachers Receive 6.6 Percent Pay Rise Over Two Years as Schools Warn of Budget Strain
UK Defence Spending Plan Sparks Budget Clash as Regional Infrastructure Projects Face Pressure
Inquest Continues in Northern Ireland into Death of Noah Donohoe in Belfast
UK Travel Industry Calls for Suspension of New EU Border System During Peak Holiday Season
Telegraph Media Group Acquired by German Media Firm in £575 Million Deal Completion
House of Commons Warns Northern Rail Upgrade Risks Repeating High-Speed 2 Cost Overruns
UK Transport Unions Warn of Summer Strike Action Over Pay Disputes
UK Health Secretary Calls Maternity Care Review a “Watershed Moment” for NHS Reform
Nigel Farage Faces Questions Over £270,000 Payment Linked to Gold Marketing Firm
Labour Government Faces Internal Division Over North Sea Oil and Gas Policy Direction
National Screening Committee Invites New Proposals for UK Health Screening Programmes
UK and China Hold Industrial Strategy Talks on Trade and Export Growth Opportunities
UK Defence Funding Gap Widens as £4.7 Billion Shortfall Puts Pressure on Spending Priorities
United Kingdom Faces Historic Demographic Shift as Deaths Forecast to Exceed Births in England and Wales
United Kingdom Introduces Major Motability Scheme Reforms Targeting £1 Billion in Long-Term Savings
Global Billionaire Numbers Rise 13 Percent Amid Artificial Intelligence Stock Boom
Body of Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Recovered from Manchester Reservoir
Major Rail Disruption in UK After Cows Stray Onto Intercity Tracks
UK Launches National Campaign to Reduce Water Consumption After Heatwave
Foreign Secretary David Lammy Raises Case of UK Woman Death with US Authorities
Shetland Islands Council Approves Subsea Tunnel Plans Linking Major Islands
Telegraph Media Group Takeover by German-Led Consortium Completed
Resident Doctors in England Accept Government Pay and Conditions Deal
Andy Burnham Sets Out Ten-Year Economic Vision Amid Labour Leadership Debate
Asylum Seekers in UK Face £10,000 Contribution Requirement Under New Law
UK Government Moves to Break Apple and Google App Store Dominance
New UK Steel Tariffs and Import Quotas Aim to Shield Domestic Industry
Damning Report Exposes Failures in Maternity and Neonatal Care Across England
Government Data Reveals Five Billion Pound Shortfall in UK Defence Budget
Prime Minister Keir Starmer Unveils Three Hundred Billion Pound Defence Investment Plan
UK Crime and Policing Act 2026 Comes into Force with New Justice System Reforms
UK Prime Minister Hosts NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for Security Talks at Downing Street
UK Tightens Oversight of Emissions Trading Scheme Through New Ministerial Directions
UK Issues Statement at UN Security Council on Violence in the West Bank
UK Environment Agency Clears Illegal Waste Site in West Yorkshire After Court Action
UK Resident Sentenced for Fraudulently Claiming £30,000 in Covid Business Loans
UK Launches Taskforce to Help Young People Claim Dormant Child Trust Fund Savings
×