Former lover of suspect accused of killing Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, 'couldn't ... trends now
A woman whose house was used as a refuge by Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s alleged killer minutes after the nine-year-old was shot came forward to police because she ‘couldn’t protect him’, a court heard.
The witness – who had previously had a sexual relationship with suspect Thomas Cashman – said she was revealing what happened because Olivia’s mother deserved ‘answers’, a jury was told.
Olivia had been in bed at the family home in Liverpool, but came downstairs after hearing loud bangs in the street outside saying: ‘Mum I’m scared.’
A murder trial heard that as her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, tried to barricade the front door, Cashman allegedly fired a shot which missed its target, Joseph Nee, and instead fatally injured the schoolgirl.
After firing another shot, the gunman went to the home of a woman with whom he had previously had a sexual relationship, jurors were told.
The witness – who had previously had a sexual relationship with suspect Thomas Cashman (pictured) – said she was revealing what happened because Olivia’s mother deserved ‘answers’, a jury was told
Olivia (pictured) had been in bed at the family home in Liverpool, but came downstairs after hearing loud bangs in the street outside saying: ‘Mum I’m scared.’
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, later told police that Cashman, 34, asked for a change of clothes, saying to her: ‘I didn’t know where else to go, I trust you.’
She then called another man who drove Cashman back to where he had parked his van earlier before taking away the clothes the alleged gunman had been wearing, Manchester Crown Court heard.
But the witness told police how she ‘broke down’ the next morning after learning about Olivia’s shooting on television and later came forward. ‘I physically couldn’t, I just couldn’t do it,’
