Child killer Thomas Cashman's chilling desperate threats to love rival to hide his secret

A man who helped Thomas Cashman in the aftermath of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel told detectives he was 'terrified' of him - and described how the child killer gave him one final message.

Paul Russell, 41, who was last week jailed for 22 months after admitting assisting an offender, also said Cashman had a "reputation" and that "people were scared of him" while being interviewed in custody. He disposed of the gunman's clothing and drove him back to his van following the fatal shooting of the nine-year-old girl on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot on the evening of August 22 last year.

Henry Riding, prosecuting, read extracts from conversations Russell had with police following his detention on August 28, 2022 to Liverpool Crown Court during his sentencing on Wednesday. In his interview, he said of the moment he received a phone call from his girlfriend saying that Cashman was at her house: "When she phoned me, my heart. My world just fell apart. I don't like him anyway."

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Of attending the address and seeing Cashman there, Russell said: "I didn't wanna see him to be fair. Devastated." He said he had known the murderer "for years", but added: "We're not like friends or nothing like that. Why's he trust me? I'm not his mate or nothing." Russell said of events at the house while Cashman was present: "I'm not sure if he said 'can I do a joint?'. I'm not sure. See look, I just wanted him out me house. That was it.

"That was my main objective, I didn't want him in. I didn't wanna drop him off, didn't want to. I was thinking of something in that split second what I could say something not to drop him off, but there was nothing for me to say.