Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder: timeline of schoolgirl shooting which shocked nation - what happened?

While much of Merseyside was glued to their TV screens as Liverpool fell to disappointing defeat to rivals Manchester United, enforcer Thomas Cashman was preparing for gang hit.

Clad in black and armed with two guns, the 34-year-old was lying in wait for convicted burglar Joseph Nee, who was watching as Mo Salah and co lost 2-1 at Old Trafford on 22 August. Manchester Crown Court heard that Nee had fallen out with a rival gang, with some reports saying was because a cannabis farm had been robbed.

Nee was targeted in a drive-by shooting just weeks earlier, in Finch Way, Dovecot, when two rival groups fired shots indiscriminately near some playing fields. Police said Cashman had not been eliminated from that incident, and now he was determined the hit was done properly.

However, this assassination attempt would go horribly wrong, and led to nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel being shot dead in her own home. This would be a “defining moment” for a community that has had enough of organised crime.

On 8 August, the same self-loading pistol which was used by the gunman who killed Olivia was fired at Nee in Finch Way, Dovecot. The court heard this was linked to a family feud between Nee and another group, which Cashman was close to.

The incident happened at 9.40pm in Finch Way, Dovecot – close to Olivia’s home – when two rival groups, one in a car and the other on motorcycles, fired shots indiscriminately while near some playing fields.

Then the week of Olivia’s murder, Sam Rimmer, 22, and Ashley Dale, 28, were also killed in shootings in Merseyside - which are not thought to be linked. And it was with this backdrop, and on the 15th anniversary of the death of Rhys Jones, an 11-year-old who was shot in Croxteth, Cashman armed himself.

At 2pm on 22 August, Nee - the intended target of the shooting - arrives at the house of Timothy Naylor in Finch Lane, Dovecot, Liverpool, driving a Volkswagen Transporter van.

An hour later, Cashman leaves his home in Grenadier Drive in the West Derby area of Liverpool driving a white Citroen Berlingo. His trial heard he was “scoping out” Nee. He drives onto Finch Lane then left onto Kingsheath Avenue, where he would have a view of Nee’s van, before driving to his sister Coleen’s house in Mab Lane.

At 3.17pm, Cashman leaves his sister’s house and drives past Dovecot Labour Club, with a view of Nee’s van on Finch Lane. Just before 4pm, Cashman, with his hood up, arrives on foot at the corner of Berryford Road and looks in the direction of Naylor’s house in Finch Lane before turning around. Nee’s van is no longer parked outside as he has gone to Screwfix. The prosecution alleged Cashman intended to shoot Nee, but was “thwarted” because he was no longer there.

Cashman goes back at his sister’s house where he stays for four minutes before driving away in his Citroen Berlingo to Finch Lane and stopping at his brother Kevin Dunne’s house, where he can see Naylor’s property. He spends the next three hours driving past Naylor’s house over and over again, before going home.

Nee arrives back at Naylor’s house ahead of the match between Liverpool and Manchester United, which kicks off at 8pm. Just after the game starts, Cashman drives back and spots Nee’s van in Finch Lane. He goes to a friend’s house, back home, before heading to his sister’s house in Mab Lane.

At 9pm, he leaves dressed in black, and parks his van in Aspes Road. CCTV captures Cashman walking along Finch Lane towards, Kingsheath Avenue - where he lies in wait for Nee armed with two weapons.

At 9.52pm, the Liverpool match ends - despite a late Mo Salah goal they have lost to rivals Manchester United - and Nee leaves his friend’s house. At 9.59pm, CCTV footage shows Nee and Paul Abraham being chased up Kingsheath Avenue by Cashman, who fires three shots in the street.

Cheryl Korbel opens her front door to see what the noise is and Nee runs towards it with Cashman in pursuit. Two more shots are fired, one of which goes through the front door, hitting Ms Korbel in the wrist and striking Olivia in the chest. The emergency services are called.

At 10.02pm, Cashman is seen back in Finch Lane, running across the road to Berryford Road. He is seen in Standedge Way and from there is believed to have run through gardens to flee the scene. Nee also flees the scene, leaving little Olivia dying.

Two armed officers arrive at the scene and take Olivia to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where Olivia is pronounced dead less than an hour-and-a-half later.

Cashman, who fled to the house of a woman he had a fling with, is driven back to his van in Aspes Road by Paul Russell. He then heads to the houses of his friends and family, before fleeing on a bike and being driven home.

Just two days later, police arrest Nee. However it took around six weeks, and a potential reward of £200,00, for detectives to trace Cashman, who was arrested and charged in late September. Today, 30 March, he was convicted of murder for Olivia’s shooting.