Thomas Cashman found guilty of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel

• Cheryl Korbel leaving Manchester Crown Court after Thomas Cashman's guilty verdict

A dad has been found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel as he fired shots into her home in an "execution" that went "horribly wrong".

Thomas Cashman, 34, fired through the front door of Olivia's family home in Dovecot, Liverpool, hitting the hand of her mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, before fatally wounding the schoolgirl.

Brandishing a pink teddy dedicated to Olivia in the air, Ms Korbel said she was “ecstatic” as she left following the conclusion of the trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Olivia screamed “Mum, I’m scared” seconds before she was shot dead as she stood on the stairs of her home at around 10pm on 22 August 2022, the court was told.

In a tearful video played to Manchester Crown Court at Cashman's trial Ms Korbel recounted the moment she realised her daughter had been shot.

“I was screaming for her to stay with me,” she told interviewers. “There was blood everywhere. I kept saying it was mine, 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'."

Visibly upset and crying on the video Ms Korbel then said she huddled over Olivia and tried to continue to carry her.

"She went all floppy and her eyes went to the back of her head," she added.

Returning the guilty verdicts after nine hours and three minutes there were gasps and tears from Olivia’s family, including her mother who wore a pink cardigan and clutched a teddy.

The jury of 10 men and two women also found Cashman, of Grenadier Drive, Liverpool, guilty of the attempted murder of Joseph Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Ms Korbel and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Cashman wiped away tears in the dock and turned to his family in the public gallery behind, shaking his head.

One of Cashman’s relatives could be heard saying “appeal it” and they left the courtroom shouting and swearing.

His sister claimed others were responsible for Olivia’s murder, not her brother, as she was ushered out of the court building by police officers and court security.

It can now also be reported that another man, Paul Russell, 41, has admitted driving Cashman away from a house following the nine-year-old’s murder and disposing of his clothing.

• ITV Granada Reports correspondent Ann O'Connor at Manchester Crown Court

In his closing speech, 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”.

He said: “The news at the time made front page headlines across the country and this is a case which will live with you forever.”

During the three week trial Manchester Crown Court was told how Cashman was in a “ruthless pursuit” of convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee, aiming to shoot him “at all costs without any consideration for anyone else in the community.”

But the court heard how the “execution” went “horribly wrong”, as Cashman instead hit the mother and daughter.

Seconds earlier, Olivia had been frightened out of bed and ran to her mother after hearing a commotion outside as Cashman pursued and shot another man, Joseph Nee.

As Ms Korbel opened her front door to find out what was going on Nee, bleeding and injured, saw the light and ran towards the house, trying to barge in to escape Cashman.

Ms Korbel, “in a panic” and screaming at Nee banging on the door, tried to shut it on him, as Cashman fired again with a revolver.

The bullet missed Nee, went through the front door, through Ms Korbel’s right hand and hit Olivia in the centre of her chest.

A key witness, who cannot be named, told the court following the shooting Cashman turned up at her home agitated and changed his clothing.

She also said she heard him say he had, “done Joey”.

During his evidence, Cashman told the jury he was a "high level cannabis dealer" in the Dovecot area.

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

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.”

After being given a tissue by her partner, sitting next to her during the interview, 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 with her arm in a bandage, 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 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.”

Cashman will be sentenced on Monday 3 April alongside Russell.