Thomas Cashman swarmed by armed police in Manchester after arriving in court before Olivia murder sentencing

Armed police surrounded a man convicted of murdering Olivia-Pratt Korbel before he is sentenced today.

Thomas Cashman will learn his fate at Manchester Crown Court today (Monday) after a jury convicted him of murder last week. He shot dead the nine-year-old inside her own home in Dovecot, Liverpool, on August 22 last year.

Cashman will receive a life imprisonment after being unanimously convicted. The Liverpool Echo reports how Justice Amanda Yip, who presided over his trial, will be required to set a minimum term which the 34-year-old must serve behind bars before he is considered eligible for release.

As Cashman arrived at court today, photos showed the van he was travelling in surrounded by armed police.

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Last week, Cashman shook his head as the verdict was delivered after nine hours and three minutes of deliberations. Cashman turned to his family in the public gallery, placed his head in his hands and became tearful. Olivia's mum Cheryl Korbel, 46, cheered and lifted a teddy outside the courtroom after Cashman was found guilty. The mum, who was injured during the attack that killed her daughter, told the BBC she was "ecstatic" following the verdict.

The court previously heard during a three-and-a-half week trial that Cashman "lay in wait" for Nee while armed with two loaded guns as his intended target watched a Liverpool FC v Manchester United football match on the television at his friend Timmy Naylor's house on Finch Lane. When he left the address with another man, Paul Abraham, the gunman approached them from behind and opened fire three times with a self-loading pistol.

Nee was shot in the midriff at this point and