Thomas Cashman trial: Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s brother breaks down as he relives haunting moment he battled to save her
THE brother of schoolgirl Olivia Pratt-Korbel broke down as he relived the haunting moment he battled to save his sister as she lay dying from a gunshot wound to the chest, a court heard today.
The nine-year-old was hit by a stray bullet as she got ready for bed after a gunman fired into the family home on August 22 last year.
Ryan dragged her body up the stairs away from intended target Joseph Nee, 35, who had shoulder-barged his way through their front door.
His police interview, conducted the following day, was played to Manchester Crown Court this morning.
During it, Ryan described how Nee lay wounded in their hallway before his pals pulled up outside and carried his body to A&E as Olivia lost blood, the Liverpool Echo reports.
He said: “My mum was in hysterics. My mum had Olivia and brought her a few more steps up the stairs.
“Blood was coming out of my mum’s wrist. The lad who I believe to be Joey Nee was sat on the front step.
“I couldn’t move, I was helpless, just stood there, I couldn’t do a thing.”
Putting his head in his hands, Ryan continued: “I didn’t know my sister had been hit at this point.
“I went to see Olivia, that’s when mum passed her to me.
“I kept pressure on her chest. Then I gave her back to my mum and went outside to see where he was.”
Nee had stumbled out of the house, collapsed in the middle of the road and used his mobile phone, the court heard.
He was picked up by five men in a black car before police arrived.
Through tears, Ryan described how his mum thrust Olivia into his arms and asked him to put more pressure on her chest.
“I didn’t know why until I was on top of her and I saw the hole,” he added.
Their neighbour’s husband arrived and administered CPR while Olivia’s lips turned blue, Ryan said.
“She wasn’t even bleeding out the gunshot wound anymore. I knew it was over,” he added.
As I bent down to pick her up I noticed her eyes were open and her gaze was staring into nothing. Her lips were blue. Her body was limp.
PC Daniel Cooper
When cops got there, Olivia was carried out of the house wearing blood-stained pyjamas, jurors were told.
PC Daniel Cooper, who held the youngster in his arms, said in a statement read to the court: “Olivia was on her back with her pyjamas on, stained with blood.
“I immediately noticed a small bullet entry wound to her chest area.
“As I bent down to pick her up I noticed her eyes were open and her gaze was staring into nothing. Her lips were blue. Her body was limp.
“It is then I decided Olivia needed immediate medical attention far beyond what I could offer.”
Olivia was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead about an hour later.
Thomas Cashman, 34, is accused of murdering the youngster.
Prosecutors say the defendant had planned the “execution” of his intended target Nee but had instead shot a nine-year-old girl.
He is also charged with the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia’s mother Cheryl, who was shot in the hand, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.