09 March 2023 , 19:10
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Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s heartbroken mother has told a court how she heard her daughter "gasping for breath" after being fatally shot.
Olivia, aged nine, was shot and killed in August last year in Dovecot, Liverpool when convicted burglar Joseph Nee was chased into her home by a gunman.
Thomas Cashman, 34, is accused of firing shots into the family home.
Giving evidence today at Manchester Crown Court via a recorded video interview, the youngster’s mother Cheryl shared some of her final moments with her daughter.
The 46-year-old was shot in the hand in the tragedy, the court heard, with the bullet passing through and hitting her daughter.
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Cheryl Korbel and her family arrive at the court (CHRIS NEILL)She said: “She was gasping for breath.
"I was screaming for her to stay with me. There was blood everywhere. I kept saying it was mine, it was mine, but I knew it was not right.
“She went all floppy and her eyes went to the back of her head and I realised that she must have been hit because I didn't know until then and I lifted her top up and the bullet had got her right in the middle of the chest."
"I was just screaming, 'Please Liv, stay with me.’”
A number of people in the public gallery were in tears as Ms Korbel's interview was played.
Thomas Cashman denies the allegations made against him (Liverpool Echo)At one point, Cashman was handed a tissue by a dock officer after appearing to wipe away tears with his hand.
Asked to go through the incident again by a detective taking notes, Ms Korbel said time seemed to slow down as the incident first began and she saw the gunman and another man run towards her.
Speaking through tears, the mother-of-three, with her arm in a bandage, said: "I tried to keep hold of the door, I was just screaming, screaming to go away and then I heard the gunshot and I realised, because I felt it hit my hand.
"I couldn't keep the door shut because it wasn't locked, and with my hand I couldn't keep it shut, so I let it go and I think at the same time I heard the baby speak and that's when I turned round and I spotted her sat at the bottom of the stairs.
Olivia is carried from the church during her funeral (Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)"I leant over her and like held her to the left, I just huddled over."
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She said her son Ryan helped her to carry Olivia up the stairs and she shouted for a towel to stop the bleeding.
She added: "Ryan turned round and said to me 'mum, I can't do this' so I tried to move the baby again up to the top of the stairs.
"I heard the lad downstairs shouting 'please lad, don't' and I heard another gunshot.
"I couldn't keep her awake."
Floral tributes left near Olivia's home last year (Liverpool Echo)She added: "She said a neighbour came in and started CPR on Olivia.
"I knew she'd gone, I knew she'd gone.
"I just want them caught."
Cashman, of Liverpool, denies the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia's mother, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
His trial is expected to last four weeks.