The family of Olivia Pratt-Korbel wore a touching tribute on the first day of a four-week long trial.
Olivia's Mum, Cheryl Korbel and fellow family members including siblings Chloe and Ryan and aunties Antonia and Kim all wore a pink ribbon pinned to their clothes as they arrived at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, March 6. Dad, John Francis Pratt, was also in attendance and wearing a pink ribbon.
Mourners were asked to wear "a splash of pink" at Olivia's funeral in September in her memory while pupils at St Margaret Mary's Catholic Junior School were, where she was a pupil, wore pink nail varnish. Headteacher Rebecca Wilkinson said this was in memory of the time when Olivia tried to hide her hands from her headteacher to conceal her painted nails.
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The trial of Thomas Cashman, accused of murdering Olivia, began today after the schoolgirl was shot dead in her own home, on Kingsheath Avenue, Dovecot, on the evening of August 22 last year. The 34-year-old is charged with murdering Olivia and wounding with intent of Olivia's mum, who was injured in the shooting along with a man called Joseph Nee.
Cashman, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, denies murdering the schoolgirl.
He has also pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to murder Joseph Nee. He is also charged with 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.
Cashman also denies this charge. Cashman arrived at court with an armed police escort. Images from outside Manchester Crown Court show the van that the 34-year-old is being escorted in arriving for the trial.
Trial judge, Mrs Justice Amanda Yip, introduced the case to the jury panel. 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 read things about the case. That isn’t a problem.
“You will have the evidence presented to you, the issues will be made clear and you will decide whether the prosecution have made you sure of Mr Cashman’s guilt.
“You are coming to it from scratch. Anything you have seen before, put it out of your mind."
David McLachlan, KC, will open the prosecution case tomorrow morning.
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