• Nine-year-old girl the latest victim of the wave of murders that shakes Liverpool

The man who shot and killed 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in her own home during a settling of scores has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum sentence of 42 years. Gunman Thomas Cashman, 34, refused to sit in the dock at Manchester Court on Monday after he was convicted of killing the girl and intentionally wounding her mother last week.

Cashman fatally shot Olivia on Aug. 22 during what prosecutors described as "a ruthless pursuit" to execute another man. The killer was running down Kingsheath Avenue in a Liverpool suburb, shooting a 35-year-old man, who was later identified as Joseph Nee, a convicted drug dealer. After hearing a noise in the street, Olivia's mother, Cheryl Korbel, opened the door of her house at 22:00 hours to see what happened when Nee took the opportunity to enter and hide.

Despite efforts to contain Cashman, Cashman managed to enter the house and fired indiscriminately, wounding Cheryl in the wrist and killing Olivia, who was hiding behind her. The assailant fired twice more from the door frame, hitting Nee in the upper body, before fleeing. Soon after, Nee's friends arrived at the house and took him to the hospital, while Olivia bled to death on the floor. The girl suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was later transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in critical condition, where she eventually died.

In the days following the incident, Commissioner Serena Kennedy confirmed that the family had no relationship with either man. The case, which was one in a series of murders in the English city, shocked the United Kingdom and resulted in the arrest of nine men before Cashman was finally arrested and charged with Olivia's murder more than a month and a half later, on October 1.

During sentencing, Judge Amanda Yip said she considered Cashman's absence a "lack of respect" not only to the jury but also to Olivia's family. His lawyer, John Cooper KC, explained that Cashman had not attended because he knew that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had sung We are the Champions after pleading guilty last week, according to Sky News.

The girl's mother, Cheryl, cried hugging a stuffed animal as she testified before the judge: "It doesn't fit in my head how Cashman kept shooting after hearing the terrified screams inside our house. Their actions have left the biggest hole possible in our lives."

Yip claimed that Cashman had made it very clear that "he was a criminal" and had not "shown any remorse" for his actions. "For Olivia's murder," he continued, "only one sentence can be handed down. It's mandatory life imprisonment." In addition to the conviction for Olivia's murder, Judge Yip also convicted him of four other charges, including the attempted murder of Nee.

The sentences were handed down after a 19-day trial, during which the jury heard Cashman admit that he operated as a "high-level" cannabis dealer in the eastern central Liverpool suburb of Dovecot. Cashman had been "watching" Nee on the day of the murder, stalking him armed with two handguns while watching a football game at a friend's house.

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