Mum of Olivia Pratt-Korbel shot dead in Liverpool says 'grass culture' must be called out

ITV Granada Reports Merseyside correspondent Andy Bonner previews the new television documentary.

The mother of a nine-year-old shot dead in Liverpool says the stigma around 'grass culture' needs to change.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel was murdered in August 2022, after gunman Thomas Cashman chased a drug dealer into her home and opened fire.

Olivia's mother Cheryl Korbel was also injured during the incident.

Almost two years on from the shooting, Cheryl says the motivation for taking part in a new documentary exploring her daughter's murder was so "people understand what's happened" and to see it is "real life".

The four-part Channel 4 series, Merseyside Detectives: The Murders of Ashley and Olivia, includes footage from Merseyside Police's investigations into the killings of both Olivia Pratt-Korbel and 28-year-old Knowsley Council worker Ashley Dale.

Ashley was fatally shot in her own home as part of a criminal feud that had nothing to do with her on 21 August 2022.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Friday 16 August, Cheryl Korbel and Antonia Elverson, Olivia's aunt, told presenters Ranvir Singh and Adil Ray that communities "need to speak up".

Cheryl said: "I don't know how anyone can live with the conscience of knowing that something really bad has happened.

"They know the people that have done it, they need to speak up.

"And if it was themselves, they've got to think that if it happened to themselves, they'd want somebody else to speak up if they knew about who it was or what was going on.

"You can't keep quiet, because it's just going to carry on and it's going to get worse."

Antonia added: "We understand the fear factor, people are frightened of repercussions, but you can report cases anonymously."

Cheryl and Antonia praised Merseyside Police for their "tireless work" in solving Olivia's murder.

Cheryl said: "Some officers didn't want to go home. They were literally told, ‘no, you need to go home. You need to go and get some sleep’. They were on it constantly."

Cheryl and Antonia, along with the wider family, have campaigned for Olivia's Law, which would force criminals to attend sentencing hearings.

Antonia said: "What we’ve campaigned for is very close to us, because obviously the culprit didn't attend the court on the day of his sentence.

"And so that was what we've been campaigning for. And we will continue to do that until it is officially law…we won't go away quietly.

"But I think now, because especially what's happened in Southport, and there's other crimes that have you know, are still unsolved.

"That week in Liverpool was horrendous for our family."

Antonia added: "The government needs to be looking at more stringent sentences - if you're found with a weapon, something has to change."

Speaking about the last two years since Olivia’s death on the 22 August, Cheryl said: "Every day is hard to actually get out of bed.

"Like I said, I've got two other children, but if it wasn’t for my other children, no disrespect to family and friends, yeah, it would be a totally different story. I get up for them every day, as grown up as they are."

The family say they plan to do something "fun" to mark the upcoming anniversary, and said last year they spent it in the park.

Cheryl added: "We went back and we made our Olivia's favourite cocktail" which they explained was Vimto and lemonade.

Why are guns and gangs such a big problem on Merseyside? And what's being done to stop young people getting involved in organised crime?

We take a look in our podcast, From the North.