Olivia Pratt Korbel's mum told of the "seven months of agonising torment" her family had to endure at the hands of Thomas Cashman.
Cheryl Korbel thanked people across the city for their "outstanding support" as she read a statement outside court following the sentencing of Thomas Cashman. Cashman, 34, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years after being unanimously found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia by a jury.
Cheryl said while she and her family welcomed Cashman's sentencing, they have already started their life sentence "having to spend the rest of our lives without Olivia."
READ MORE: 'All I want is my baby back': Olivia Pratt-Korbel's dad's heartbreaking words as killer sentenced
Sharing a statement with the media outside court, Cheryl said: "On Thursday 30th March 2023, a verdict of guilty confirmed our belief that Cashman murdered out beautiful Olivia. Olivia was just beautiful with her long, brown hair and big, brown eyes.
"She was such a social butterfly, she was particularly good with the younger children and was such a caring little girl.
"Liv was the light of our lives, a sassy, chatty girl, who never ran out of energy. She was a character, she was my baby and she had amazing qualities and knew what she wanted in life.
"Everyone adored her, she was the baby of our family and my little love, my shadow. Now everything we do and everywhere we go is a constant reminder that she's not there with us.
"All that promise for the future, so cruelly taken away. We can now draw a line under seven months of agonising torment we've had to endure at the hands of Cashman."
Cheryl added: "Justice has prevailed and I cannot begin to express our relief. I would like to extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to Mr McLachlan and Mr Riding, the CPS and all the investigation team and police officers involved in working tirelessly to get this to court.
"My thanks go to the witnesses who bravely assisted the prosecution case and defied the usual stance of people do not grass. I would especially like to thank our family liaison officers, Detective Constable Louise Wright and Julie Moses, who have worked so hard and professionally with boundless dedication to achieve this result.
"We welcome the sentence given, but what I can say is that my family and I have already started our life sentence having to spend the rest of our lives without Olivia. We are overwhelmed by the outstanding support of the public during this horrific time and wish to say thank you.
"We now ask for time and space to try and process what has happened to us over the past few months and most importantly, grieve for Olivia who was so cruelly stolen from us. Thank you."
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