Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder accused will say 'it wasn't me', jury told

The man accused of shooting dead nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel will tell a murder trial that the gunman 'wasn't him', a jury was told.

Thomas Cashman, 34, is standing trial at Manchester Crown Court, after pleading not guilty to the murder of Olivia. The schoolgirl died after being shot in the chest at her family home in the Dovecot district of Liverpool on August 22 last year.

Olivia's mum, Cheryl Korbel, was also injured in the shooting, along with a man called Joseph Nee. As well as the murder charge, Cashman, of Grenadier Drive, West Derby, denies the attempted murder of Mr Nee, wounding Miss Korbel with intent to inflict GBH, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life - namely a 9mm calibre self-loading pistol and a 0.3 calibre revolver.

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Today (Monday March 6) trial judge Mrs Justice Amanda Yip introduced the case to the jury panel, Liverpool Echo reports. She told them in court: "The trial concerns a shooting in Liverpool in August of last year which involved the death of a nine-year-old girl called Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

“The defendant is Thomas Cashman. He is charged with murdering Olivia.... In simple terms, he says it wasn’t him."

A jury of 10 men and two women was selected, with two men acting as reserve jurors until the end of the prosecution opening. After the jurors were sworn in, Justice Yip told them: "Naturally the death of any child is a sensitive topic, one where it’s normal to experience emotional reaction.

"It’s important to put those emotions aside so you can properly consider the case to arrive at the right verdicts. You may well have seen or