Olivia Pratt-Korbel murderer Thomas Cashman loses conviction appeal

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Olivia Pratt-Korbel's killer had failed in another bid to appeal his conviction. Thomas Cashman murdered the nine-year-old as he chased a drug dealer. Cashman fired a bullet which struck the schoolgirl as the gangster he chased tried to run into her home. When convicted, in April 2023, he was caged for life with a minimum term of 42 years.

Last November, the Court of Appeal threw out a bid to challenge his sentence. And the 36-year-old has now failed in another appeal bid following a hearing at the Court of Appeal. Today, the court was told an investigation should be called into claims evidence, which had not been presented during the trial, was given to jurors while they were deliberating.

The court was also asked to looked into claims that police gave jurors in his trial panic alarms. But three senior judges dismissed the appeal bid. Lord Justice Holroyde stated: "The effect, of course, is that Mr Cashman remains convicted as before." Olivia died following the August 2022 incident in Knotty Ash, Liverpool.

The Mirror reports that, earlier this year, Olivia's mum said "no amount of time" behind bars would be long enough for the gang kingpin boss of her daughter's murderer. Vincent Coggins, 58, led the feared Huyton Firm which employed hitman Thomas Cashman who killed Olivia.

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The brutal gang leader evaded the authorities for 30 years before he was captured in 2020 and jailed earlier in May for 28 years. But Olivia's mum Cheryl, 48, said his sentence would never be long enough and believes her daughter would still be here without his drug gang.

She told The Mirror: "No amount of years is ever going to be enough. It's taken them 30 years to find him so what does that say? The violence in Liverpool might not have got as bad as it did if they had got them a hell of a lot earlier. From top to bottom of these gangs, in my eyes they are all to blame. It sickens me."

Coggins' gang flooded the country with cocaine while ordering Cashman and his other henchmen to carry out brutal attacks on rivals. Vincent, also known as the Headmaster, and his older brother Francis gained a fearsome reputation similar to that of fellow Liverpool drug trafficker Curtis Warren.

The Huyton Firm were eventually apprehended when the French authorities hacked the Encrochat messaging service where they had discussed their multimillion pound drug deals. This June Olivia would have celebrated her 11th birthday and enjoyed her final year of primary school. Since her death Cheryl has called for the "code of silence" in Merseyside to end.

Earlier this month Crimestoppers announced a new initiative to help people in the area of Liverpool where Olivia died to pass information anonymously to police. The Dovecot, Yew Tree and Huyton area has been designated as a Crimestoppers Zone - the first of its kind for the charity. Cheryl said the plans could only be a 'good thing' to help end gang violence in her home city.

Cashman was found guilty of Olivia's murder and jailed for 42 years last March. Vincent Coggins, of West Derby, was sentenced 28 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and plotting blackmail on Thursday. Seven of his accomplices were also jailed but his older brother Francis remains at large.

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