The family of Olivia Pratt-Korbel are court today to see the man who helped Thomas Cashman get sentenced.
The 41-year-old helped child killer Thomas Cashman get rid of clothes he wore during the shooting which killed Olivia Pratt-Korbel and drove him back to his van. Cashman shot the nine-year-old inside her own home, on Kingsheath Avenue, in Dovecot, on August 22 last year.
Cashman had been chasing Joseph Nee, 36, with two guns when Nee ran towards the Korbel's front door. Olivia's mum, Cheryl Korbel, fought to keep the door closed but was also hit in the wrist with the same bullet that killed her daughter.
READ MORE: Paul Russell live updates as man who helped Thomas Cashman cover his tracks faces sentence
Today, the family of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, including mum Cheryl Korbel and dad John Pratt, have taken their seats in court once again to see Russell be sentenced for the part he played in covering up the murder. Russell, of Snowberry Road, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender in October 2022.
Cashman's trial at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court was told that he had "garden hopped" to Russell's partner's home in the aftermath of the incident. She cannot be named for legal reasons, but reported that she had phoned her boyfriend after being woken by the killer at her bedside.
When Russell arrived, Cashman was said to have told him at the doorstep "I've done Joey", believed to be in reference to the intended target of the attack Joseph Nee. Russell allegedly said "lad, don’t wanna hear it, don’t tell me nothing".
He then drove Cashman to Aspes Road, where he had parked his Citroen Berlingo van. The shooter had left the clothing on the kitchen floor beside the woman's washing machine.
Russell later took these clothes round to the home of Craig Byrne, an associate of the murderer, on Snowberry Road as he walked his dog late that night. Dad-of-two Cashman was given a navy blue pair of his co-defendant's Under Armour tracksuit bottoms during his pitstop at the woman's home.
These were later discovered in a cardboard box at his sister's home on Mab Lane, and when tested were found to contain his DNA and two particles of gunpower residue on the outer surface of the right leg. He was also handed a black and grey Under Armour t-shirt belonging to Russell, which was subsequently located in the box.
A speck of Cashman's blood was found on the garment.
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