Olivia Pratt-Korbel‘s murderer, Thomas Cashman, has lost his appeal to have his life sentence reduced, to the relief of his victim’s family.
Cashman, 34, lodged an appeal against his minimum 42-year jail term, after he was found guilty of killing nine-year-old Olivia at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool.
Her mother, Cheryl Korbel, said of Cashman’s rejected bid at reducing his jail term: ‘That news meant everything to us as a family, it was huge.’
On August 22 last year, Cashman was chasing convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee, who tried to run into the girl’s home in a bid to escape.
Cashman opened fire, hitting Olivia’s mother in the wrist as she tried to keep the door shut on Nee, with the same bullet then killing her daughter.
Thomas Cashman, 34, lodged an appeal against his minimum 42-year jail term, after he was found guilty of killing nine-year-old Olivia
Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 last year
After Olivia’s family endured a four-week trial, her killer refused to show up for his sentencing, instead remaining in his cell.
Cheryl, 48, told The Mirror: ‘We knew when he didn’t show up in court that he was going to appeal it.’
Cashman, a high-level Liverpool drug dealer and father-of-two, reportedly launched an appeal less than 20 days after being handed the life sentence, which his lawyers argued was too harsh.
Cheryl said: ‘I laughed when I heard he had appealed his sentence, I just thought it was a joke, we went right through court and then he never turned up for his sentence.’
Cashman was branded a ‘coward’ for his refusal to come into Manchester Crown Court to be sentenced and face Olivia’s family.
His no-show prompted calls for a change in the law to force criminals to attend their sentence hearing or face extra years in jail.
Cheryl is among those, including former justice secretary Dominic Raab, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, calling for a change in the law.
Cheryl Pratt-Korbel has called for a change in the law after her daughter’s killer did not show up for his sentencing
‘You never get closure’, Cheryl told the newspaper, ‘and then for him to not turn up was a punch in the stomach. It’s not a quick process at all. It was draining.’
‘The pain he has put us through, we’ve lost Olivia, she was the core of the family, she was the youngest. But whether that makes any difference to him I’m not sure.
‘The law needs changing so other families don’t have to go through the same thing, so they get the chance to tell these offenders the pain they have caused.’
Cashman’s trial heard how he ‘lay in wait’ with two guns to attack 36-year-old Nee.
An artist’s sketch of Thomas Cashman in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on March 30
After shooting Nee, his victim tried to escape, running towards the Korbels’ front door, opened by Cheryl who had gone outside to see what was happening.
As she tried to block the door on Nee, frightened Olivia ran from her bed to the stairs, shouting, ‘Mum, I’m scared!’
Cashman fired again, hitting Cheryl in the wrist as she tried to keep the door shut on Nee. The same bullet hit and killed her daughter, who was hiding behind her.
Jailing him, Mrs Justice Yip said the killer was ‘not of previous good character’, had made it clear he was a criminal and had ‘demonstrated no remorse’ during his trial.
She added: ‘His failure to come into court is further evidence of that.’
