We’ll find everyone linked to horrific gun death of Olivia, 9

As man is in court charged with murder of schoolgirl, police vow:

POLICE chiefs have pledged to track down everyone who tried to ‘protect and shield’ the gunman who killed nine-year-old Olivia PrattKorbel after a man was charged with her murder.

Thomas Cashman, 34, appears before magistrates today accused of murdering the schoolgirl and attempting to murder her mother, Cheryl.

Olivia was at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 when convicted burglar Joseph Nee, 35, ran through her front door as he tried to flee a gunman who had opened fire outside.

The killer followed Nee through the door and fired a shot from a revolver that hit Olivia’s mother in the arm and then struck the schoolgirl in the chest.

Nee was also wounded after being shot with another weapon, a 9mm Glock handgun.

On Saturday, prosecutors announced that Cashman, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, had been accused of murdering Olivia as well as two counts of attempted murder in relation to her mother and Nee. He has also been charged with two counts of possession of a firearm to endanger life.

In addition, Paul Russell, 40, also from West Derby, was charged with assisting an offender. Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen, head of investigations at Merseyside Police, said the probe continued ‘in earnest’ despite the charges being brought.

‘At the beginning of the investigation, we were firm in our commitment to finding all of those involved in this case,’ he added.

‘This includes the people who tried to shield and protect individuals, and those who supplied the weapons, and indeed those who are hiding the weapons used in this attack.’

He said that while the police appeal had received an ‘overwhelming response’, detectives still needed people to come forward to tell them what they knew.

Despite tip- offs leading to searches of West Derby golf course and Yew Tree Cemetery, the murder weapon and the other gun have yet to be found. Last month, the reward offered in the hunt for her killer was increased to £200,000 – the biggest single reward offered by Crimestoppers. The charity’s chairman, Lord Ashcroft, said the case had been ‘incredibly shocking’ not just for Olivia’s family, ‘but for Liverpool and the nation’.

‘We need every effort to find those involved in this appalling killing,’ he added.

Nine men have previously been detained over Olivia’s death, all of whom were later bailed.

Olivia’s funeral was held last month at St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Church in Knotty Ash.

‘Supplying and hiding weapons’