Olivia Pratt-Korbel: 'Her lips had gone blue, I knew it was over' victim's brother tells court

Warning: Some of the content in this story is distressing.

The brother of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has described hearing her say “I’m scared, I’m scared”, as he recalled the frightening scenes before and after his little sister was shot.

Thomas Cashman, 34, is accused of fatally shooting Olivia and injuring her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, after chasing Joseph Nee into their house in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 last year. Cashman is on trial in the Manchester Crown Court, after pleading not guilty to the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of 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.

In a video interview played to the court on Friday, Olivia’s brother, Ryan Korbel, said he had been in his room when he heard three loud bangs. He said: “The next thing I heard was footsteps across the landing. It was Olivia, she was running downstairs screaming: ‘Mum, I’m scared’.”

A police officer asked Mr Korbel if he knew what Olivia was scared of. He said: “No, she literally said ‘I’m scared mummy, I’m scared’. Then I heard her footsteps.

“Downstairs she said it another two times ‘I’m scared, I’m scared’ and then everything else just kicked off,” he said.

Mr Korbel said he went to the landing and saw Olivia four or five steps up from the bottom of the staircase, a man lying on the floor, and his mother “wrestling” with the door. “My mum and the fella, who I believe was Joseph Nee… then got the door shut,” he said.

“The door’s burst back open but my mum’s behind it. An arm’s come round the door with a black handgun and another shot’s gone off, it could be two, I can’t remember,” he told the court. “Olivia was in hysterics, my mum was in hysterics, my 18-year-old sister was in hysterics, we all were.”

Asked to describe the arm he saw appear around the door, Mr Korbel said: “All I seen was an arm, a hand and a gun.”

He told officers Nee was sitting on his doorstep and then went outside, where Mr Korbel followed him and was “screaming abuse”, not knowing his sister had been hit at this point. “He collapsed in the middle of the road.”

Mr Korbel said he went back inside and Nee was picked up by two men in an SUV. He told police: “My mum put Liv in my arms and told me to keep pressure on her chest.

“I didn’t know why until I lifted her pyjama top up and seen a hole,” he said. A neighbour came in and gave CPR to Olivia.

“Her lips had gone blue, she wasn’t even bleeding out the gunshot wound,” he said. “I knew it was over.”

Mr Korbel said Nee was injured but he did not think he had been shot while inside the house. He said: “He cowered behind the door.”

The court also heard testimony on Friday from neighbours who arrived at the house shortly afterwards, as well as PC Daniel Cooper - part of the Matrix armed response unit of Merseyside Police - who was the first officer on scene.

His statement said: “As I looked at the stairs, I could see a female with an obvious injury to her hand sat crying and shouting hysterically. I then noticed a foot and lower legs of a female child wearing white socks, stained red, which I assumed was from blood.

“On the small landing lay a small female child. Olivia was lying on her back with what appeared to be pyjamas also stained with blood,” he said. “An adult male was carrying out CPR with his phone beside him on speaker phone.”

The officer said he could see a small bullet entry wound to her chest area, just above her stomach. “Her eyes were open, lips blue, no movement from her in any way.”

He decided Olivia needed urgent medical attention. “I picked her up in my arms and carried her down the stairs. As I did, PC Metcalf was coming in with the trauma medical bag. I said to her we needed to go straight to hospital as Olivia had a gunshot wound to the chest.”

The trial continues, and is expected to last four weeks.