Man accused of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel tells court he was 'high level cannabis dealer'

21 March 2023, 17:48

The man accused of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has told a court he was a "high-level cannabis dealer".

Thomas Cashman, 34, who is accused of killing the girl and injuring her mother Cheryl Korbel, 46, after chasing a convicted drug dealer into their Liverpool home in August last year.

He gave evidence to the trial on Tuesday, wearing a blue jumper over a white shirt.

He told jurors he would make between £3,000 and £5,000 a week selling the drug, and spend it on holidays, cars and bikes.

By the age of 14 he was out of school and at about 16 he was working at a fair in Wales and smoking cannabis every day, then he started smelling it on a small scale by 18.

Read more: Olivia Pratt-Korbel 'picked up in blood-stained pyjamas' by police officer after nine-year-old gunned down at home

However, by 2021, he was selling at a "high level", and he had moved to a home in Grenadier Drive.

"I only ever sold it in my area where I've been brought up, so everyone I sold it to was everyone I knew,” he said. He told the court his catchment area was the Finch Lane area of Dovecot in Liverpool.

John Cooper KC, defending, said: "You became a cannabis dealer, didn't you?"

Cashman replied: "Yes, I was a cannabis dealer."

Mr Cooper asked: "Were you a high-level cannabis dealer?"

Cashman replied: "Yes."

Cashman said he has two children with his "childhood sweetheart" Kaylee Sweeney.

His drugs would get dropped off at his sister's house, he said.

Read more: 'I knew she had gone': Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s mum sobs as she reveals moment daughter shot dead at home

"My sister's boyfriend is an ex-police officer. He didn't like it and he got on my sister over it and they were having arguments between each other about me always being there," Cashman told the court.

His sister had told him to stop having people round to the house because of the arguments on the day of the shooting, he said.

He told the court he knew Joseph Nee, the alleged target of the shooting, and never had problems with him or his brothers.

He said he was at their family's home to look at one of their new Audis the day before Olivia was shot.

Asked if this was actually a mission for "scoping things out", he insisted that was "untrue".

Cashman also denied "confessing" the crime to a woman he had a "fling" with. She claims he came to her after the shooting to change clothing and overheard him say he had "done Joey".

Cashman claimed he dealt drugs to her boyfriend, who owed him £25,000, and she threatened to hell her partner about the affair because he did not want to go to Marbella to start a new life with her.

Cashman denies murdering Olivia and the attempted murder of Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to Olivia's mother, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

The trial continues.