Thomas Cashman has been found guilty of murdering the Liverpool schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel in a shooting that “shook the nation”. 

The 34-year-old cannabis dealer gunned down the nine-year-old inside her own home as he chased a rival during a gangland hit gone wrong.

Cashman, a father of two, claimed he was being “stitched up” during his trial and pleaded with jurors “I’m not a killer, I’m a dad”. 

But despite his repeated denials, the jury at Manchester Crown Court rejected his claims to find him guilty of Olivia’s murder following a four week long trial.

She was shot through the chest by Cashman who “ruthlessly and relentlessly” pursued another man, Joseph Nee, a convicted burglar, into her house in Knotty Ash, Liverpool.

Cashman, a violent drug dealer, had been determined to take out Nee, after a feud erupted between rival Merseyside gangs.

Prosecutor David McLachlan, KC, said he had carried out the “pre-planned” attack without “any consideration” for members of the community.

Cashman had spent the day scoping out his target and was lying in wait for Nee on the evening of Aug 22 last year.

When Nee left a property in Finch Lane, Knotty Ash, Cashman, who was wearing a mask approached him and fired three shots from a 9mm pistol.

Standing over his victim, CCTV captured him as he tried to fire a fourth time, but the weapon appeared to malfunction. 

Nee managed to get up and flee and when Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, opened her front door to see what the noise was, he burst into her home pursued by the gunman.

As Ms Korbel tried to close the door Cashman fired two more bullets, one of which passed through her hand and hit her daughter in the chest.

‘Case shocked a city…but also a nation’

In his closing speech David McLachlan, KC, told the jury the case was “as serious as it gets”.

He said: “This is a case which shocked not simply a city…but also a nation. It made front page headlines and it is a case which will live with you forever.

“He was in relentless pursuit of Joseph Nee in a pre planned and ruthless attempt to kill him. He has twisted and turned on every occasion to try to fit his case to the evidence.”

Cashman admitted to being a “high level cannabis dealer”, but denied murder insisting at the time of the shooting he had been “having a spliff and a chit-chat” while counting thousands of pounds of drug money at a friend's house a few streets away.

Cashman of Grenadier Drive, West Derby, Liverpool was found guilty of the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Nee and the wounding with intent of Cheryl.

He was also found guilty of two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.