Cheryl Korbel, 46, said she was 'ecstatic' after a jury found Thomas Cashman guilty of murdering her nine-year-old daughter, Olivia Pratt-Korbel, in Liverpool last August. She left Manchester Crown Court clutching a pink teddy bear, smiling for perhaps the first time in weeks.
Olivia, known as Liv, was a bright and chatty child who loved pink and had spent her final summer riding her birthday bike on the street where she was killed. Her mother described her as 'nine going on 19', with a personality that was anything but small.
On the night of 22 August 2022, Olivia came downstairs after struggling to sleep in the heat, telling her mother 'Mummy, I'm scared' moments before a masked gunman fired through the front door, striking her on the stairs. She died in her pyjamas.
At Olivia's funeral, her white coffin decorated with a rainbow and pink butterflies, Cheryl told mourners her daughter 'would have made a great lawyer because she had an answer for everything'. She recalled how Liv would come home from St Margaret Mary's Catholic junior school and report on other children 'playing up', often needing reminders of her age.
Cashman, 34, is expected to be sentenced to at least 30 years in prison on Monday. While no sentence can bring consolation, Cheryl's quiet dignity and resilience throughout the harrowing four-week trial drew admiration.
