Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Child killer fled to Lancashire after shooting nine-year-old

The 34-year-old is due to be sentenced tomorrow (Monday) for murdering nine-year-old Olivia as he chased a convicted drug dealer into her home in Liverpool.

But just days after the killing which shocked the nation he was spotted in the Tesco supermarket in Liverpool Road North, Burscough, with an associate.

On September 1, Cashman was caught on CCTV in the store buying a mobile phone and a £10 top-up card. He also bought a packet of crisps, a fruit drink, milk and baked goods from the self checkout. Three days later the gunman was arrested at his friend’s flat.

Cashman, who admitted being a “high-level” cannabis dealer, denied being the gunman in the incident, which also injured Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, and Joseph Nee, the intended target, in Dovecot on August 22 last year.

But last week a jury at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty of the murder of Olivia, the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Ms Korbel, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

During the trial, which lasted more than three weeks, the jury heard the schoolgirl ran downstairs after hearing shots outside, saying “I’m scared mummy, I’m scared”. The bullet which killed Olivia was fired through the front door, hitting Ms Korbel in the hand before striking the schoolgirl in the chest.

Cashman's own barrister referred to him as "the most hated man in Britain". He was said to have been a feared figure who "ran the streets" around the Dovecot area of Liverpool.

The prosecution claimed he was on a mission to execute Nee when he chased him and fired two shots into Cheryl's home that night. Police finally captured Cashman almost two weeks later.

Det Supt Mark Baker, who led the investigation, said it has been "the worst thing I have ever investigated" in a police career spanning 30 years.

It took the jury of 10 men and two women less than three hours to find Cashman guilty of all the charges at Manchester Crown Court. He will receive a mandatory life sentence tomorrow, with Mrs Justice Amanda Yip setting the minimum term he will serve.