Good evening. The drug-dealing gangster who murdered schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel could have been apprehended two weeks earlier after he was suspected of involvement in a shooting near a children’s playground, the Telegraph can reveal.
Thomas Cashman found guilty of murder
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 on August 22 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.
Police missed chance to catch drug-dealing murderer before shooting
It can now be revealed that just a fortnight earlier, the same Glock handgun - which was one of two used in the attack on Nee on August 22 - was involved in a drive-by shooting that took place at Ackers Hall park, a short distance from Olivia’s home.
Nobody was injured in the attack and the gunman was not apprehended, but it is believed that Nee was the intended target and Cashman the suspected gunman.
Bullet casings recovered from the scene of the incident on August 8 matched some of those used by Cashman on the night Olivia was murdered. She was killed by a bullet from a 0.38 calibre revolver, and neither that nor the Glock have been recovered.
Cashman was ‘feared enforcer’ for crime group
To his neighbours on the smart new-build estate in West Derby, Cashman appeared to be a respectable and hard-working family man with a fondness for sports cars and foreign holidays, writes Will Bolton.
But in reality the 34-year-old was a feared enforcer for an organised crime group who had been building a reputation on Merseyside as a “man with the gun”.
During his trial, Cashman attempted to claim he and Nee were friends and he had no reason to harm him.
But underworld sources have told The Telegraph that Nee - a convicted drug-dealer and burglar - had become a marked man after a cannabis farm Cashman was linked with, was robbed.
Evening Briefing: Today's essential headlines
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King Charles has said the UK and Germany can confront the horrors of war in Europe together in a historic speech to the German Bundestag. Victoria Ward and Matthew Robinson have more details on the first address of a British monarch to the German parliament. And you can watch a video of the King speaking German during a state banquet in Berlin here.
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Today's Matt cartoon
Electric vehicles inspired Matt's cartoon today. Click here to see more from Matt.
And you can find today's political cartoon here.
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And finally... for this evening's downtime
The incredible story of England’s lost ‘medieval Manhattan’ | This town's fate proves that we are ultimately just pawns on nature’s chessboard, writes Dr Matthew Green.
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