Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Jonathan Humphries & Adam Everett

Everything heard during the first week of Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder trial

The trial of Thomas Cashman over the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel began this week.

The nine-year-old was shot dead inside her own home on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, on the evening of August 22 last year. A bullet fired by a gunman travelled through the front door and struck the schoolgirl's mum Cheryl Korbel in the hand, before fatally hitting the youngster in the chest.

The gunman was pursuing 36-year-old Joseph Nee, who barged into the Korbel family home while running for his life. Nee was also wounded but survived.

READ MORE: Olivia Pratt-Korbel shouted 'mum I'm scared' as shots were fired

Cashman, 34, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, denies being the gunman or any involvement in the shootings. Here is a day-by-day breakdown of how the trial progressed during its first week.

Day one - Monday, March 6

A jury of 10 men and two women was selected and sworn in on the first day of the trial. Introducing the panel to the case, Mrs Justice Amanda Yip told them: "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."

Day two - Tuesday, March 7

David McLachlan, KC, opened the prosecution's case on the second day. He described how Olivia's mum begged "stay with me baby" after realising her daughter had been shot.

She had previously been in bed but, frightened by the sound of gunshots outside in the street, ran downstairs shouting "mum, I'm scared". The schoolgirl ended up standing directly behind where Cheryl Korbel, 46, was fighting to keep a man from forcing his way into their home.

Mr McLachlan told jurors that Cashman had spotted Nee's van parked outside the house of a man called Timothy Naylor on Finch Lane earlier on the day of the shooting. Manchester Crown Court heard that Nee spent that evening watching the Manchester United v Liverpool FC game on TV with a group of friends at this address.

After the match finished, he and one of the group, Paul Abraham, left on foot. They were walking along Kingsheath Avenue when a gunman ran up from behind and fired shots with a 9mm self-loading handgun. Mr McLachlan told the jury: ""The prosecution's case is that this was a pre-planned and ruthless attempt to kill Joseph Nee.

"Thomas Cashman checked as to Joseph Nee’s whereabouts on multiple occasions in order to make sure that he was present at Timothy Naylor’s house before the execution was to take place. He went so well prepared that he was armed with two loaded firearms.

"When Joseph Nee had been shot and was begging for his life, the gunman did not and would not stop. He continued in his pursuit.

"He ran after Joseph Nee as he ran up Cheryl Korbel’s pathway, and he fired two more shots. The first of them missed Joseph Nee and went through the door, then through Cheryl Korbel’s wrist before hitting Olivia in the chest before finally lodging in her left upper arm.

"The final shot, around the door, missed Joseph Nee and ended up embedded in the internal door frame. The main issue for you in this case will be, are you sure on the evidence that Thomas Cashman was the gunman?"

Earlier, the jury saw CCTV from a camera overlooking the street showing the moment gunfire erupted. Three loud bangs could be heard as Mr Abraham fled for his life while Nee stumbled to the ground.

The footage then showed the armed man standing over him with the gun pointed at him, but the jury heard it appeared the weapon may have "malfunctioned" and he was able to scramble to his feet and flee towards the Korbel family home a few doors away. Witnesses described Nee saying "please don't", "don't lad" and "lad, what are you doing?" as the gunman bore down on him.

The jury heard Ms Korbel had briefly opened the door after hearing the bangs, but tried to shut it again when she realised "the gravity of the situation". However Mr McLachlan said Nee "must have seen the light coming from her front door opening and made a dash towards the door".

The gunman was still chasing him, however, and as he forced his way inside a further shot was fired from a second weapon - a revolver. This was the shot which killed Olivia.

The killer then managed to force his arm around the partially open door and fired the revolver again, but fortunately that bullet was caught in the door frame and caused no injuries. Mr McLachlan told the jury that Ms Korbel turned and noticed her daughter had been wounded.

She described how Olivia "went all floppy and her eyes went to the back of her head", adding: "I realised that she must’ve been hit, because I didn’t know until then. I lifted her top up and the bullet had got her right in the middle of the chest."

Olivia's sister, 18-year-old Chloe Korbel, heard her mum screaming "Livia had been hit" and then begging "stay with me baby". Meanwhile, the gunman fled the scene of the shooting on foot, using back gardens to stay hidden.

The prosecution allege that Cashman was the gunman, and then arrived at an address belonging to a woman he knew, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The woman told police she was in bed and awoke to find the defendant in her bedroom telling her "I didn’t know where else to go, I trust you."

The jury heard the witness told police Cashman was "stuttering and saying something like someone was coming for him", having apparently been told that people were "sitting him off, like observing him". The woman said she then phoned a man called Paul Russell against Cashman's wishes.

After he too arrived, she heard the name "Joey Nee" being mentioned when the two men were talking. Mr McLachlan told the jury: “We know what had happened to him.”

The woman stated that she gave Cashman some clothes - including blue Under Armour tracksuit bottoms, yellow Nike Sliders and a grey Under Armour t-shirt. However Cashman allegedly left the clothes he had been wearing at her home, which Russell later "moved" after the men departed together.

The jury heard Russell and Cashman left the house at around 10.45pm, and Cashman was dropped off on Aspes Road, near where he had parked his white Citroen Berlingo van. He later made his way home via several stops at properties in the area, arriving back at Grenadier Drive at 11.45pm.

Mr McLachlan described how Cashman left his home with his partner, Kayleeanne Sweeney, two days later on August 24 and travelled to an apartment block in Runcorn called The Decks. He was subsequently arrested there on September 4.

The prosecutor suggested Cashman had "left in a hurry" and was in the Cheshire town to "put himself out of the way." Jurors heard clothing worn by Cashman on CCTV footage recovered from the Runcorn property showed "similarities" to clothing that was worn by the gunman on August 22.

Clothes given to him after the shooting were recovered from the home of his sister, Coleen Cashman, on Mab Lane - where they were found inside a cardboard box which had contained a child's pram. Mr McLachlan said the jogging bottoms contained the DNA of both Thomas Cashman and Paul Russell, and there were two particles of gunshot residue on the right leg matching the same type found at the Korbel family home.

Cashman, after his two arrests, told the police he had "nothing whatsoever" to do with the shooting and accused detectives of "stitching me up". He answered no comment to all questions in his interviews.

Day three - Wednesday, March 9

Jurors were played a series of CCTV clips which pieced together the movements of both Cashman and Nee on August 22 2022 during the first day of evidence. At around midday, Nee's Volkswagen Transporter van was seen on Finch Lane near to his friend Timothy Naylor's home.

The two men left and were then captured on CCTV at Aintree Retail Park at around 1pm, entering the Currys and American Golf stores before returning to Mr Naylor's. Meanwhile, Cashman's Citroen Berlingo van was seen on cameras leaving his home at around 3pm and heading to Finch Lane.

Nee's vehicle was parked in this area at that time. The defendant then continued to his sister Coleen's home on Mab Lane, entering for six minutes before driving back towards Finch Road at around 3.30pm and again heading back to Mab Lane.

At 3.32pm, Nee drove away in the direction of East Prescot Road. Cashman entered Mab Lane for two minutes before exiting on foot at 3.36pm and heading towards Snowberry Road.

At 3.53pm, he was seen on camera exiting this street and crossing Princess Drive towards Rothbury Road. After this, the defendant is seen on the corner of Berryford Road and Finch Lane at 3.56pm

David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, said during his opening on Tuesday that it was at this time that "he was going to shoot Joseph Nee, but he had been thwarted on this occasion because Joseph Nee had gone to Screwfix". Cashman then returned back to Mab Lane "along the same route", being seen on foot and as a passenger in a Ford Transit van during this journey.

He was captured on footage "interacting with a lad on a bike" at his sister's doorstep, entering the house for around four minutes then heading towards his half-brother Kevin Dunn's address - which was also on Finch Lane. CCTV showed Cashman pulling up on Finch Lane and getting out of his van at 4.11pm.

Meanwhile, at 4.13pm, Nee was seen on camera at Screwfix on Aintree Retail Park driving into the car park in his Volkswagen Transporter van. He was then recorded on CCTV inside the store before driving away at 4.16pm.

Cashman stayed at his brother’s home for around 35 minutes then left at 4.46pm in his van, travelling along Finch Lane and turning right into Kingsheath Avenue. Again, Nee’s van was away from the area at this time.

There was then a 27-minute gap in the CCTV footage before Cashman’s vehicle was seen driving down Finch Lane and returning to Grenadier Drive at around 5.20pm,. He remained there for roughly an hour and 20 minutes, before leaving in his Citroen Berlingo van at 6.42pm.

Cashman was then seen on CCTV taking routes which saw him pass Finch Lane, where Nee would later watch the Liverpool game at Mr Naylor's house. Cashman also visited Mr Dunn on Finch Lane at 7.09pm, remaining in the address for around six minutes.

Nee's own van was not present on the road at this time. However, by the time of the 8pm football match, Nee's Volkswagen Transporter was back outside Mr Naylor's home.

The jury heard Cashman then left his home again at 8.04pm and travelled down Finch Lane. He then returned to Grenadier Drive before heading out in his van once more at 8.31pm, again passing Finch Lane.

Cashman went to his sister Coleen's home on Mab Lane after this, staying there for 21 minutes before leaving and parking up on Aspes Road at 8.59pm. It is after this point that he denies being the man the prosecution have presented to the jury in CCTV footage.

Video from then onwards shows a man walking along Finch Lane in the direction of Yew Tree Cemetery. After the match ended at 9.52pm, Nee and Mr Abraham left Mr Naylor's house.

The shooter was then recorded running across Finch Lane onto Kingsheath Avenue behind the two men. CCTV played to the jury recorded three louds bangs showing Mr Abraham fleeing while the gunman stood over Nee - who had fallen to the floor - and pointed a firearm at him.

Afterwards, the man was caught on CCTV running between houses on Finch Lane before turning into Berryford Road then continuing onto cul-de-sac Standedge Way. He was then said to have "garden hopped" as he exited the scene of the shooting.

The jury also saw CCTV of "intended target" Nee being bundled out of a car and carried into hospital after he was shot. The 35-year-old Nee was rushed to Whiston Hospital after being transported there "by associates" from Kingsheath Avenue.

He arrived at 10.17pm, 17 minutes after the first 999 call was placed. A video showed Nee being carried by two other men from a vehicle into the entrance of the emergency department, with a fourth man following them on foot - appearing to be in a state of unconsciousness or semi-consciousness at this time.

Olivia, meanwhile, was "blue lighted" to Alder Hey Children's Hospital by two armed police officers, who arrived at her home at 10.11pm and discovered the child and her mum, Cheryl Korbel, with gunshot wounds. Ms Korbel, 46, was transported to Aintree Hospital at 10.35pm by the North West Ambulance Service.

Day four - Thursday, March 10

The jury heard a series of statements from eyewitnesses. Video interviews with Olivia's mum and sister were also played to the court.

Jurors saw a video recording of Paul Abraham's police interviews first. He told a detective how he went to the home of his friend, Timothy Naylor, to watch Manchester United vs Liverpool, with a number of other men.

Mr Abraham told detectives it was "just a normal day" and the men had been smoking "wacky backy" and drinking cans of Stella while the football was on. He said he and Joseph Nee left the property shortly after full-time, and walked along Kingsheath Avenue when a man began shooting.

The witness recalled: "The first bang was really loud. It was a bit of a shock.

"As soon as we went to run again there’s been another one straight away, it must have hit Joseph and he’s fell over. I’ve basically hopped over him and gone through the gate."

Another witness, Lisa Boylan, described seeing the gunman chasing Nee. She said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

"I heard the lad in grey shouting 'don’t lad, don’t lad. Don’t’.

"The lad in black with the gun did not reply. He followed the lad in grey clothing onto the other side of the road.

“The male with the gun glared at me as he ran past. It scared me.”

Ms Boylan - who was with her daughter Libby - said she saw the victim running to a house a short way down the street followed by the gunman, adding: "The lad in black clothing held out his gun again and shot. He shot a second shot straight after.

"I think they missed despite being close behind him. The lad in grey clothing ran into an address approximately five doors down.

"He was followed by the male with the gun. We remained in the car.

"I then heard a loud bang, as if someone was booting the door open. I think it was the lad in grey clothing desperate to get in the house.

"Within a second I heard a further three gunshots coming from inside the address. Me and Libby quickly drove away.

"We wanted to just get away in case we were next shot at. I feared the lad with the gun might shoot at me as he left as we witnessed the incident.

"I immediately phoned the police. Libby was in shock - we both were, and I’m still in shock."

Ms Boylan said they then parked up outside her home on Kingsheath Avenue and walked back towards the Korbel house. She told detectives: "There were lots of people in the street and the front garden.

"I saw a female child with blonde hair being carried out by police officers. She wore a white nightie which had a lot of blood over it.

"She appeared floppy. I knew immediately the little girl had been shot."

Ms Boylan remembered seeing Olivia's mum coming out of the house, recalling: "She was shouting she wanted to go to Alder Hey with her child. She was bleeding also, her arm was bandaged up.

"The whole incident lasted approximately 90 seconds from first hearing the gunshot to going into the house. I think there must have been seven shots fired in total.

"It was dark outside, but I did get a good look at the male in grey and the male with the gun - I probably wouldn't be able to recognise the man again due to the balaclava. The whole incident has made me feel sick.”

Another witness, Adele Maher, told police the gunman was dressed in “all black from head to toe”. She said: "He was running with an arm stretched out in front of him.

"Seconds later I heard another two loud noises followed by the worst screaming I’ve ever heard in my life. I think it was women screaming hysterically, out of control - I knew something bad had happened.

“We all just stood around in shock. I could heard [Chloe Korbel, Olivia's sister] on the phone to someone. She sounded distraught - she was saying 'where are they, where are they, she’s dying'.”

Cheryl Korbel's video interview with police was played on Thursday afternoon. The recording, from a few days after the shooting, showed the mum with her right hand bandaged recalling the distressing details of her daughter's final moments.

She told a detective how she was at home with two neighbours, who had "popped round" for a cup of tea, and her two older children. Olivia was in bed upstairs.

Ms Korbel said: "We were sat talking and we heard, we weren’t sure whether it was fireworks or gunshots. I jumped up and went outside onto the path.

"I was in the path, to the end of my car. As I looked down the street to me left, I just seen these - I seen one fella had crossed over from the other side of the road, like come in front of {next door neighbour] Rob’s car next door.

“I spotted this lad behind him all in black. I realised at that point it was gunshots, and the other one was running after him.

"I realised he was running towards me. I ran back in the house.”

Ms Korbel became emotional and was handed a tissue by the detective as she said: "I shut the door but the door wasn’t shut. It never caught fully because it was on the catch, because we go in each other’s houses.

“We message to say we put the snip on so they can just come in. I tried to keep hold of the door, there was just screaming - screaming to go away.

“I heard the gunshot. I realised, because I felt it, it hit me hand.

"I couldn’t keep the door shut - with my hand, I couldn’t keep it shut. He was trying to push it open and I tried me best to keep it shut."

Ms Korbel recalled hearing Nee shouting "please lad, don't" before hearing a second gunshot. The jury heard he "fell through" the door and was "slumped" in the hallway.

Cheryl Korbel said: "[Olivia] said something, I don't know whether it was 'mum'.

"But when I turned around she was just sat there - still, on the bottom stair. It was the bottom or the second stair.

“I realised, that must have been when, she was hurt because I didn’t know until we got her up to the middle of the stairs. The door flew open.

"I was huddled over the baby, because I couldn’t lift her by myself because of the arm. I was trying to keep the blood from going everywhere.

"I shouted Ryan to come and help me get her up the stairs, because she was heavy. It was like, she wasn’t helping me.

"We got her to the middle of the stairs. She was gasping for breath.

"I was screaming at her to stay with me. The ambulance would be there in a minute."

Ms Korbel added that said she "knew she was gone". Cashman was seen wiping tears away in the dock as he heard Olivia's mum's account, with a security guard passing him a tissue as he heard Ms Korbel describe the moment the nine-year-old schoolgirl was shot in the chest.

Jurors were similarly played a video interview given by her sister Chloe Korbel. The teenager described how she was upstairs in her mum's bed on the night in question when she heard bangs outside.

Chloe said: "I heard two shots, I thought it was fireworks. Then I heard the second one, I thought 'no that’s not fireworks'.

"I jumped out of my mum’s bed and went to the window. There were two lads running down the road.

"I seen the front door light come on. My mum was opening the door, she’s gone out.

"My little sister obviously got out of bed and went downstairs saying she was scared. They ran towards the house, my mum was outside so she was running back to the house.

"Because the door was on the latch it didn't shut properly, me and my mum were holding it then. Then another shot got fired.

"I ran upstairs and rang 999. I heard mum screaming that Olivia had been hit."

Chloe pauses and put her head in her hands at this point. She continued: "Then another two shots went off, but no-one else was injured.

"My mum were just pressing on my little sister with towels trying to stop the bleeding. My brother started shouting at the man sat on the doorstep telling him to get out the house, and he wouldn’t."

Chloe looked out across the road from an upstairs window, saying of this: "There was some man, he walked diagonally across to the left. The man stumbled, fell onto his knees and lay down on the floor in the road.

"My mum shouted me to get another towel. I ran down and got the towel and brought it back up.

"I was still on the phone to 999, they were asking me is she still breathing - I said I don’t know. All I could hear was my mum shouting."

Of the two men, Chloe told detectives: “There was two people, I couldn’t see what they looked like. They’ve tried to get in.

"The lad that got shot, the lad on the doorstep, he was trying to get in the house. He’s pushed the door, but he couldn’t get in because me and my mum were holding it.

"Obviously the gunman has followed the other lad that he was chasing. Obviously when he was outside the house, he must have shot him - he was sat on the step.

"I was on the phone with them, I went round my mum’s room just doing laps. My mum was working on my little sister, trying to stop the bleeding.

"While I was speaking to them my brother was shouting down the stairs, ‘get out my house’. I was just looking out the window to see where the police were and the ambulance."

Chloe said her brother Ryan knew the man who was being chased, who he told her was "Joey". Officers asked the teen if she knew his surname, to which she replied "Joey Nee".

She added: "I didn’t see his face. He just fell to his knees.

"The car has come, then the man fell to his knees and lay down across the road. I don’t know what happened after that."

Day five - Thursday, March 11

The fifth day of the trial started with the jury being played a video interview with Olivia's brother Ryan Korbel. Mr Korbel said he heard a series of bangs outside before hearing his sister get out of bed and run down the stairs screaming "mummy, I'm scared."

He said: "I was lying in bed. I heard three bangs.

"They were loud - very, very loud. The next thing I heard footsteps on the landing, it was Olivia running down the stairs screaming ‘mum I’m scared’.

"My mum, I wasn’t aware at the time, but apparently my mum had gone to open the door to see what the bangs was. Olivia was about four or five steps up from the bottom.

"My mum was wrestling with the door, it was swinging open and shut. One shot went off.

"My mum and the fella who I believe was Joseph Nee then got the door shut, but because the latch was shut it wasn’t closed properly. I seen an arm come round the door, a black handgun.

"Another shot went off, it could have been another two. I can’t remember.

"My mum was in hysterics. My mum had Olivia brought 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."

Mr Korbel became visibly upset and put his head in his hands on the video clip. He said: "I didn’t know my sister had been hit at this point. [Nee] collapsed in the middle of the road.

"I told a neighbour ‘let him bleed’, I didn’t care at that 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.

"A car come speeding down the road, a big black SUV. I didn’t know what was going on, whether they’d come to finish him off or what.

"My mum was stood on the stairs with the baby. Two lads got out the car, picked him up and got off."

He described how Rob Lamb, a next door neighbour, rushed round after hearing the bangs and began performing CPR on Olivia. Mr Korbel told detectives: " I didn’t know why until I was on top of her and seen the hole.

"[Mum] took Liv back off me. I didn’t know what was going on, I just wanted the ambulance to turn up.

"That’s when Rob, my next door neighbour's husband, came out. Every time I went the stairs he was giving CPR and he wouldn’t stop.

"Her lips were going blue, she wasn’t even bleeding out the gunshot wound. I knew it was over."

When asked further about what Olivia said as she ran down the stairs, Mr Korbel added: "She literally said 'I’m scared, mummy, I’m scared'. I heard a few steps.

"I heard her going downstairs. I heard her say another two times 'I’m scared, I’m scared' and then everything else has kicked off."

A statement from Mr Lamb described how his partner Hayley Freeman was next door having a cup of tea with Cheryl Korbel when the shooting began. He added: “The match had just finished, it was dark outside and I was sat in the front living room.

"I heard two loud bangs outside. I heard another bang and a scream coming from Cheryl’s house.

“I ran out the house and went round to Cheryl’s. There was a male shouting ‘help me’ and for someone to ‘give me a phone’ - he was saying he had been shot, trying to get up but struggling.

“I went inside the house, [Patricia Cowhig] and Hayley were in the living room on their phones. I was told the baby had been shot.

"I heard Cheryl over her saying ‘stay with me baby’. I think she then stopped breathing and the operator talked me through giving CPR."

Ms Cowhig, who was also in the Korbel family home when Olivia was shot, said in her statement "I remember a male trying to push against the door trying to get inside. Cheryl was using her full body weight trying to shut it.

“He managed to get in the hallway and was laid on his side. Cheryl was shouting get the f*** out.

"I think he was saying call the police. I noticed Cheryl, she came into the living room and said 'I’ve been shot'.

“Seconds later, she was shouting 'Olivia' and ran up the stairs - Olivia was lying there. Olivia had come out of her room and come down the stairs.

“I heard her say 'mum, I’m scared'. The next time I saw her was when I took towels up to stop the bleeding.

"Rob Lamb was starting CPR. [Chloe Korbel] was in the living room totally distraught."

A statement read out to the court from Matrix firearms officer PC Daniel Cooper described how he scooped a gravely injured Olivia up into his arms and took her to hospital. He said: "I could see a female sat with an obvious injury to her hand at the top of the stairs, crying and shouting hysterically.

“I noticed the feet and lower legs of a child, her socks stained red from what I assumed was blood. On the landing lay a small child - Olivia was lay on her back with her pyjamas on, also stained with blood."

PC Cooper said as he bent down to pick Olivia up, he noticed how her lips were blue and her body was limp. He said at that point, he knew she required urgent medical attention.

He said: "I immediately noticed a small bullet entry wound to her chest area. My initial thought was we needed more room to help Olivia.

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. I picked Olivia up into my arms and carried her down the stairs."

He told his colleague PC Claire Metcalf "we needed to go straight to hospital". They then took Olivia to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but she was pronounced dead a short time later.

The court was then played a video interview with a woman who described having an on-off affair with Thomas Cashman. She cannot be named for legal reasons, but told detectives he had said "he wanted to get them before they got him" on the night Olivia was shot dead.

The witness alleged that Cashman appeared in her bedroom without warning on the night of the murder, waking her up. She said: "I was in my room, I must have dozed off around 8.30pm.

"All I remember was just being tapped on the leg a couple of times. I was just waking up from it.

"I could just hear ‘it’s Tommy, it’s Tommy’ in me room. I was like is this a nightmare, or is this a dream?"

The woman told detectives Cashman was wearing a T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks and was asking her to get him a "pair of pants". She said: "It was pitch black.

"I followed him down the stairs. I’d gone downstairs and I couldn’t understand what he was saying, he was stuttering.

“Something like someone was coming for him, he had a source who told him someone was sitting him off. He wanted to do him before he did him."

The woman said Cashman told her: “I didn’t know where else to go. But I trust you.”

When probed on the comments by detectives, she said: "Joey was sitting him off. A source has told him Joey was sitting him off and they were looking for him.

"They were checking his whereabouts. He wanted to get them first.

"I said how do you trust that source? 'He’s good', he said to me."

The court heard the woman phoned a man she knew called Paul Russell, despite Cashman telling her "no-one can know I'm here". She told detectives Mr Russell arrived and the two men were talking outside.

She said: "I asked him where he’d been and he said he went to drop the bits off before he came my house. I honestly believe it was the guns yeah.

“I know he wouldn’t have came to my house with them. Bits or stuff, it was one of them words.

"I just went quiet, I was just cold. I didn’t know what to say to him, I really didn’t.

“They both [Cashman and Russell] built a spliff - [Russell said] 'lad don’t want to hear it don’t tell me nothing'.

"'Joey’ was said at the front door. ‘Lad, I’ve done Joey, I’ve done Joey’ or, I dunno, it was something along them lines - as he was outside in the front garden.

“He was very nervous, I never seen him like that. I felt like there was something wrong."

The woman said Cashman allegedly left a bundle of black clothing by a washing machine in her house. She said: "I was devastated the fact that piece of s*** never took them clothes with him.

"He’s jeopardised everyone’s life just to save his own back. It’s really done my head in."

The woman told the detectives she "couldn't protect" Cashman. Referring to her reasons for coming forward, she said: "I don’t want her [Cheryl Korbel] to not have them answers.

"It’s her little girl, at the end of the day. It could have been anyone that night, it could have been anyone’s house."

During the clip, the witness described how she had previously had a sexual relationship with the defendant. She told detectives: "I seen him as a good friend to me.

"I don’t give a shit about the relationship right, because half the time that relationship - it wasn’t a f***ing affair like people may think. It was three times."

The woman told detectives that Cashman had been "nice to me" and had delivered food in the community during covid lockdowns, saying: "He used to go to the butchers and get food things and give them out to people. He was a generous lad."

But she asked of the apparent visit to her home following the shooting: "Why would you put me in that situation? That’s why I’m so heartbroken, why he chose me."

The witness described how the relationship with Cashman became sexual after they had exchange flirtatious messages on Instagram, saying: "It was like an Instagram message, something like ‘do you feel what I feel’ or something like that. I was just like ‘why do your eyes undress me all the time?’.

“He just came round and then that was the first time we slept together. It was amazing, honestly it was amazing that first time.

"He went missing again for a good couple of months. It was on off for months.

"The second time, it was s***e. It weren’t the same.

"It weren’t continuous, it was like three or four times again. I wouldn’t see him for a couple of months.

"He’d just turn up. We’d speak through Instagram.

"I didn’t speak to him for about three or four weeks. He’d message me first on it."

When asked to describe Cashman's appearance, she said: "He’s not tall. He’s a bit bigger then me.

"He’s very podgy, I used to laugh at him all the time. When you ask him about going the gym, that’s the last thing on his mind."

The woman said Cashman had left clothing by her washing machine on the night of the shooting and she had given him an Under Armour t-shirt and joggers to wear. She added: "I never see Tommy wearing Under Armour.

"He always looks smart Tommy. He had like Alexander McQueen, do you know what I mean?

"Moncler trainers. He was always dressed nice."

The witness was asked again about the sexual relationship with Cashman, with a detective having referenced his "willy not working" at this point. She replied: “It just wouldn’t work.

"It just wouldn’t work. No matter what I’d do to him.

"We used to smoke a lot of weed. He couldn’t get a hard on no.

“I didn’t want to insult him, I didn’t want to get angry. He’s told me he smokes a lot of weed.

"It was vile. It is so embarrassing.

"It was more a friendship. It weren’t like that."

When the detective asked "were you infatuated by him?", she responded: "I was. He used to make me very nervous around him."

But she then said she wanted to expose Cashman for "what a rat he was" as she believed he was also seeing another woman who was not his girlfriend. Police asked her about text messages she had previously sent to a friend in which she was "a bit angry", one of which read: "It’s time to ruin him like he has done to me."

Cashman denies murdering Olivia, the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm against Cheryl Korbel and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The trial continues.

READ NEXT: Thomas Cashman's five-word reply after he was arrested over Olivia's murder

Thomas Cashman said 'I've done Joey' after Olivia shooting, murder trial hears

Joseph Nee begged gunman for his life before Olivia Pratt-Korbel shot in home

Thomas Cashman jury shown CCTV footage of his movements hours before Olivia Pratt-Korbel was killed

Woman 'gave Thomas Cashman new clothes' after Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.