'I knew it was over': Olivia Pratt-Korbel's brother recalls her tragic final moments

The brother of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has spoken of the moment he held his sister in his arms after she was fatally shot, telling police he "knew it was over".

In video evidence played at the trial of suspected gunman Thomas Cashman, Ryan Korbel told police his sister had run downstairs after a gunman forced their way into the family home.

Korbel said he didn't realise the youngster had been shot until he held her.

"My mum put Liv in my arms and told me to keep pressure on her chest," he said. "I didn't now why until I lifted her pyjama top up and seen a hole."

Olivia was given CPR by a neighbour before medics arrived, Korbel explained.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Key points from the trial so far

• ‘I knew she’d gone’, Olivia's mother tells interview heard by court (PA, 5-min read)

• Intended target of shooting 'shouted 'please don’t’' (Evening Standard, 3-min read)

• Alleged killer was ‘lying in wait outside target's home’ (The Telegraph, 3-min read)

• Gunman ‘garden-hopped’ as he fled scene of shooting (PA, 3-min read)

"Her lips had gone blue, she wasn't even bleeding out the gunshot wound," he said. "I knew it was over."

Cashman, 32, is accused of shooting Olivia as he was attempting to shoot another man, Thomas Nee, whom he chased into the Korbel's home in Dovecot, Liverpool on 22 August last year.

Speaking of the moment when the gunman, alleged to be Cashman, burst through the door, Korbel told police he had heard bangs before seeing his sister.

"The next thing I heard was footsteps across the landing. It was Olivia, she was running downstairs screaming: 'Mum, I'm scared'," he said.

Responding to a question about whether he knew what Olivia was scared of, Korbel replied: "No, she literally said 'I'm scared mummy, I'm scared'. Then I heard her footsteps.Downstairs she said it another two times 'I'm scared, I'm scared' and then everything else just kicked off."

Olivia was shot in the chest shortly after running down the stairs, having been woken up by the sound of Nee attempting to get into the house as he fled the gunman.

Police arrived shortly after the shooting, with the first officer on the scene telling Manchester Crown Court that he got to the family home as Olivia was being given CPR.

"As I picked her up in my arms her body was limp," Pc Daniel Cooper, part of the Matrix armed response unit of Merseyside Police, told the court.

“I decided Olivia needed urgent medical attention. I picked her up in my arms and carried her down the stairs."

Olivia was rushed to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but died from her injuries.

Cashman denies the murder of Olivia, 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.