24 notorious criminals jailed in the UK in April

The gunman who shot nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel dead and an abusive partner who pushed his pregnant wife off a hill to her death were just two of the worst offenders sent to jail in the UK in April.

Other criminals facing lengthy jail terms include a drug addict who killed his partner's two-year-old daughter in a brutal six-hour attack and a 'dangerous' paedophile who sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl after he snatched her while she played in the park.

A father and son who murdered a thief who had been trying car doors around their housing estate, three violent armed robbers who attacked the brothers of two Premier League football stars while they ate breakfast and a landscape gardener who swung an axe into a man’s head at the pub were also locked up in April.

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These are some of the most shocking court cases that have been widely reported in the UK in recent weeks.

The killer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was fatally shot at her home in Liverpool, will spend more than four decades behind bars. Thomas Cashman was handed a life sentence for murder and told he must serve 42 years before becoming eligible for parole after a jury found him guilty of murder. The killer refused to attend court for his sentencing.

Cashman shot Olivia dead at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 last year. His trial heard how he “lay in wait” with two guns to attack Joseph Nee, 36, a convicted drug dealer.

After shooting Nee, his victim tried to escape, running towards the Korbels’ front door, opened by Olivia's mother Cheryl Korbel who had gone outside to see what was happening. As she tried to block the door on Nee, frightened Olivia ran