Olivia Pratt-Korbel's killer plans appeal against conviction after losing bid to cut sentence

Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s killer is planning an appeal against his conviction, his lawyer has said, after failing in his bid to reduce his 42-year minimum jail term.

Thomas Cashman, 35, was given a life sentence for shooting nine-year-old Olivia dead at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, in August last year.

His written application for permission to challenge his minimum jail term was rejected by a judge, without a hearing, earlier this year.

On Wednesday, a lawyer representing the killer renewed that application at a Court of Appeal hearing in London.

Three appeal judges – Dame Victoria Sharp, Mrs Justice McGowan and Mr Justice Chamberlain – refused to give him permission to challenge his prison sentence and dismissed his application.

They concluded Cashman did not have an arguable case.

Cashman did not appear at the hearing.

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A lawyer representing Cashman, and a court official, confirmed after the hearing that an appeal against the killer’s conviction is pending.

The court official said an application has been lodged but it has not yet been considered by an appeal judge – and no appeal hearing date has been fixed.

Cashman, from West Derby in Liverpool, was chasing convicted drug dealer Joseph Nee before Olivia was shot dead.

Nee ran into the girl’s home in a bid to escape when Cashman opened fire, hitting Olivia’s mother Cheryl Korbel in the wrist as she tried to keep the door shut on Nee, with the same bullet killing her daughter.

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Cashman, who was a high-level Liverpool drug dealer, was jailed in April this year, with Ms Korbel saying she was “ecstatic” after he was convicted.

Ms Korbel is among those campaigning for a change in the law to allow judges to force offenders to attend sentencing hearings, after Cashman refused to come up to the dock when he was sentenced.

In May, Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson KC said Cashman would not have his jail term increased after a number of requests were made for his prison time to be lengthened via the unduly lenient scheme.

Mr Tomlinson said Olivia’s “senseless murder” had “shocked and sickened the nation”, but added: “Having received detailed legal advice and considered the issues raised very carefully, I have concluded Cashman’s case cannot properly be referred to the Court of Appeal”.

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