Chilling video captured the sound of the gunshots that ended little Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s life while she was going to bed – as it emerges that police investigating her shocking death at the hands of a masked hitman know her ‘scum’ killer’s identity but the career criminal who was arrested at the scene is refusing to help officers.
The footage does not show the attack itself – but the audio clearly captures the sound of four gunshots in the Dovecot area of Liverpool.
Olivia was callously gunned down by a balaclava-clad mobster who also wounded the nine-year-old’s mother Cheryl while chasing a drug-dealing rival into her family home on Monday, in a sickening bloodbath that has appalled the nation.
The intended victim of the bungled hit – career criminal Joseph Nee – was also wounded in the carnage and was taken to hospital by his friends, who heartlessly left Olivia to die in her mother’s arms. The 35-year-old serial crook, who had been jailed for a string of crimes including drug offences, was arrested for breaching the terms of his licence after being released part-way through his 45-month sentence from 2018 – but is now refusing to aid Merseyside Police.
It has also emerged that detectives investigating Olivia’s brutal murder already know the name of the shooter after repeated appeals for information.
Olivia’s death is one of three fatal shootings in the area in the space of a week and comes 15 years after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead on his way home from football practice in Croxteth, Liverpool.
Amid mounting fury over the killings, Kieran Mullan, Conservative MP for Crewe and Nantwich, told MailOnline today: ‘The reality is it is a relatively small number of persistent and determined criminals responsible for making the rest of us suffer and, of course, horrendously on this occasion.
‘If early work to get them to turn away from a life of crime doesn’t work, the longer they spend in jail the better for the rest of us.’
It comes as police carried out a series of raids targeting gun crime in the city today as tributes continued to pour in for the tragic schoolgirl.
As Britain reacts with revulsion to the ‘senseless’ killing:
- Locals left flowers at the scene of the death, while Olivia’s headteacher paid tribute to the nine-year-old girl – calling her a ‘much loved member of our school’ with ‘a beautiful smile, a lovely sense of humour, and a bubbly personality’;
- The Bishop of Liverpool denied the city is ‘divided’ over Olivia’s death as Echo front page asked ‘which side are you on’;
- Conservative frontrunner Liz Truss expressed her condolences to Olivia’s family and said she would introduce police force league tables if she became PM;
- She told the Tory leadership hustings hosted by Times Radio: ‘There is a serious problem in this country with gun crime, there’s a serious problem with gangs, there’s a serious problem with knife crime, and I’m absolutely determined we get a grip on that’;
- Ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he called his family to speak with his daughter when he first heard about the shooting;
- Mr Sunak added that the Government needed to ‘finish putting 20,000 more’ police officers on the streets to fight crime.
Undated family handout photo issued by Merseyside Police of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel
Photographs of a topless Nee (furthest left) in HMP Kirkham, taken in 2019 and understood to have been shared onto Instagram by a drug gang baron, showed him bragging about life behind bars and relaxing alongside fellow prisoners in the warm weather
Joseph Nee, the 35-year-old gangster who led Olivia’s vile killer into her family home on Monday
CCTV footage captures the sound of four gunshots during the murder of Olivia
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was killed in a horrific shooting in her home in Liverpool
Nine-year-old Olivia was senselessly and callously murdered by a masked gunman in Liverpool
Police revealed Olivia Pratt-Korbel (left, with her mother, Cheryl, right) was the random victim of a gun battle that saw the shooter barge his way into her family home and open fire with ‘complete disregard’ for anyone inside
Forensic experts continue to examine the scene of the shooting in Kingsheath Avenue, Liverpool on Wednesday
Today police launched a series of raids targeting gun-carrying gangsters following three fatal shootings in Liverpool in nine days
Members of Merseyside Police’s gang matrix task force leaving headquarters today before this morning’s raids
Police revealed that the intended victim’s friends picked him up in an Audi and took him to hospital – leaving Olivia to die
Her death is the third fatal shooting in Liverpool in less than a week, and it comes 48 hours after a council worker was killed
Nee, who also lives in Dovecote, was previously part of an organised criminal gang that were sentenced to 10 years in jail in total for a string of burglaries across North West England – and were caught after he led police on an 125mph chase across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Photographs of a topless Nee in HMP Kirkham, taken in 2019 and understood to have been shared on Instagram by an accomplice, show him standing in the sun with a group of men as he bragged about life behind bars in captions which reportedly read ‘butlins with bars’ and ‘costa del kirkham’. Kirkham is an open prison which houses 650 men in 24 units. Each unit has a phone and a kitchen, and prisoners have access to a gym and snooker and pool tables.
In 2009, Nee was jailed for six-and-a-half years for serving as a ‘trusted foot soldier’ in a drugs gang that help push heroin and crack cocaine onto the streets of Liverpool.
Police say Nee saw a ‘chink of light’ as Ms Korbel opened the door after hearing the noise outside.
Two sources are thought to have come forward and given the same name of the masked gunman to Merseyside Police as of this morning.
Liverpool City Council councillor Barbara Murray, for Yew Tree ward, said that she or any of her colleagues would be willing to pass on any information anonymously.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are more than happy to liaise and be that person and we can pass on information, but there are other agencies. It doesn’t really matter – go to someone you trust, and tell them what you know. And we will protect you. No one will reveal who you are.’
Neighbours have now suggested that the attack may have been connected to a shooting at a children’s playground just yards from Olivia’s home on August 8 – just two weeks ago – where gunmen riding a dark-coloured car shot at a man on an electric bike. Nobody has been arrested for the incident.
One local said: ‘They were just innocent people – that’s what makes it 10 times worse. They were quiet, respectable people. Knowing someone has been shot just because she opened the door. It’s not right. It was the same people involved in the shooting a few weeks ago in Akers Hall park. We know it was. It is two rival gangs chasing after each other.’
A woman in her 50s told The Telegraph: ‘It was the same people involved in the shooting the other week, the same car involved. It is just tit for tat. Pointless.’
Olivia’s death is the third fatal shooting in Liverpool in less than a week, and it comes after a council worker was killed 48 hours ago. Chillingly, Olivia was killed 15 years to the day after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in Croxteth.
Tributes have now flooded in for Olivia, who attended St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Junior School. A card with messages written in children’s handwriting was left with a bunch of flowers at the scene of the killing. One message read: ‘I will miss you.’
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, was the tragic victim of suspected gang land shooting in Liverpool after she was left for dead after being gunned down in her own home
Two wellwishers are pictured with a heart balloon as they pay their respects to the tragic schoolgirl on Wednesday
Children are seen sitting in the road on Kingsheath Avenue in front of forensics officers today
Forensic officers are pictured today on Kingsheath Avenue, near to where Olivia was shot
Children leave flowers near to the scene in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, Liverpool
A message from Olivia’s aunt Kim and uncle Tony read: ‘RIP baby girl , can’t believe what has happened, feels like a nightmare. We will miss you so much our sassy queen. Love aunty Kim and uncle Tony.’
Another said: ‘To Olivia, I’m sorry you’re gone.’ A pink star-shaped balloon was also left at the police cordon with ‘Olivia. RIP. We love you’ written on.
Speaking at a press conference, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy appealed to ‘members of the criminal fraternity’ to ‘examine their consciences’ and identify Olivia’s killer.
She said: ‘They will have vital information that can help us. The killing of a nine-year-old child is an absolute tragedy and crosses every single boundary, and I would urge them to do the right thing so we can put this person behind bars.’
Olivia’s headteacher Rebecca Wilkinson said: ‘Our school community is devastated at the sad loss of Olivia. We are in shock and disbelief at such tragic news.
‘Olivia was a much loved member of our school. She had a beautiful smile, a lovely sense of humour, and a bubbly personality. She was kind hearted and would go out of her way to help others. She loved to perform and recently participated in the school production of The Wizard of Oz.
‘Olivia will be missed greatly by staff and children at our school. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends at this extremely sad time.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the ‘horrific, senseless shooting’, calling it an ‘unimaginable tragedy’, and promising Merseyside Police ‘whatever they need to catch those responsible and secure justice for Olivia’. Home Secretary Priti Patel said Merseyside Police has her ‘full support’.
Forensic officers near to the scene in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, Liverpool, where police enquiries are continuing
Olivia was shot in the chest in a house in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, just before 10pm on Monday night. Pictured: The scene yesterday cordoned off by police who have also closed the road
An aerial view of the scene on Kingsheath Avenue, showing a cordon around a house which has also taped off the road
Ashley Dale, who was shot dead on Sunday, was also not the intended target but a victim of ‘mistaken identity’, police believe.
Shockingly, her 16-year-old brother, Lewis, was himself shot dead seven years before by a gang who mistook him for a rival.
Police have not linked the siblings’ killings, nor do they believe Ms Dale’s death is linked to Olivia’s.
The killings have prompted outrage in Liverpool, with local MP Paula Barker condemning the ‘mindless violence’ that had left residents ‘absolutely horrified’.
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne has said there is ‘lots of anger out there’ following the shooting of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
The Labour MP told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘It’s been exceedingly difficult listening to obviously the news this morning and then getting more details this afternoon of the horrific incidents around Olivia’s death.
‘It’s been difficult to process for the whole community.
‘There’s lots and lots of anger out there at the moment. There’s lots of outrage, disbelief that this could happen in our community.’
He went on: ‘At the moment, it’s very raw. People are processing what’s happening, getting more information, as you said by the hour, but there’s a lot of fear and a lot of anger out there at the moment.’
Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson, addressing the murdered girl’s family, said: ‘This is absolutely devastating. The pain you must feel right now is unimaginable. This is a tragedy that will shake our communities.’
In a separate incident last night, a woman in her 50s – named locally as Karen Dempsey, was stabbed to death in a pub car park in Kirkby, Merseyside after reportedly trying to break up a fight. Two men have been arrested.
In addition, police are still searching for two people who fled on electric bikes following the fatal shooting of a man in his early 20s in inner-city Toxteth late on August 16.
Just last month, a teenage boy was jailed for the murder of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death in Liverpool city centre following a row over a Snapchat video last November.
Last night Olivia’s cousin Rebecca promised to get justice for ‘our little Liv’ in an emotional Facebook tribute.
She said: ‘We haven’t just lost ‘Our Liv’, we’ve lost a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin and a granddaughter. Our little Liv who was full of life, full of sass and most definitely knew what she wanted in life. You had so much potential and a full life to lead beautiful.’
She added: ‘We WILL find who did this and we WILL get justice for you baby girl… Let’s put this into action and get these weapons off our street’s… No other child should have to lose their lives to these senseless crimes.’
Police forensic officers at the scene of shooting of Ms Dale in Liverpool in Leinster Road, the Old Swan area of the city
Merseyside Police were also called to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive at around 8.10pm where they found a woman with a stab wound. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died
Ms Dale was the first woman to be murdered with a gun in Liverpool since 22-year-old mother Lucy Hargreaves was shot dead on her sofa by three masked men as her children, aged nine months, two, and five, slept upstairs. Her murderer has never been brought to justice.
There were 211 firearms offences on Merseyside from April 2021 to March 2022 compared to 140 the year before – a rise of 51 per cent.
However, the figures have been distorted by a drop in Covid, with the 227 firearms offences in 2019 to 2020 comparable to this year’s figure. Longer term . In July, police said the number of reports of weapons being discharged was at a 20-year low.
Today’s neighbours of Olivia’s family spoke of their disgust at her killing.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It’s really disgusting, and it will not be tolerated around here. I believe because a child was involved people will name the culprit and he deserves to be named because he is a coward.’
Another local described hearing four gunshots, while a woman, who asked not to be named, said the tragedy made her worry for her own children.
‘It’s devastating. It can’t carry on like this,’ she said. ‘I have four boys and for this to happen on our own doorstep is shocking.
‘The streets here are always full of kids playing.’
Helen Alohan, 49, described Kingsheath Avenue as a close-knit community where local children played together on the street.
Police said house-to-house, CCTV and forensic enquiries are in the process of being carried out, while a cordon is also in place.
Ashley Dale was gunned down outside the property in Old Swan shortly after midnight on Sunday.
No arrests have so far been made.
Gunman are thought to have burst through the door of her £70,000 three-bedroom terraced home, where she ‘lived largely on her own’, and sprayed bullets inside.
Police were called by neighbours reporting the sound of what they thought were gunshots or fireworks, and officers found Miss Dale fatally injured in the back garden.
Merseyside Police believe the property was purposefully targeted, but Miss Dale was not the intended victim. She was treated at the scene but died later in hospital.
A car was found with flat tyres outside, with police saying it was used by her and registered to her family.
The vehicle has now been removed to be examined.
In a statement, Miss Dale’s family said yesterday: ‘Ashley, our girl – our shining light. Our hearts are broken into a million pieces. Ashley was a hard-working young woman who had her entire life ahead of her.
‘She had just been promoted at her job with Knowsley Council. She had a degree and so many plans for her bright future that had only just begun. Her laugh, smile and energy was infectious in any room.
‘We can’t come to terms with how this would happen to a defenceless woman in her own home. None of this makes sense and our lives will never be the same again. A senseless crime that has torn a family apart. Justice needs to be brought.’
A police officer on Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, where Olivia died
A man was also shot in the body while a woman also suffered gunshot wounds to the hand. Both are in hospital being treated for their injuries. Pictured: Police patrolling the scene
Her own brother Lewis Dunne was shot dead in 2015 aged just 16 by a gang who mistook him for a rival. Police described him as ‘wholly innocent’ and said he had simply been ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time’.
Tributes were paid to Miss Dale yesterday, including from her former colleague Carol Tunstall who wrote on social media: ‘So very sad. Ashley worked with us a good few years back. Such a beautiful, lovely young girl.’
Her alma mater, Liverpool John Moores University, also fondly remembered the 28-year-old when she was a ‘popular student’ who was hoping for a career in local government.
Graeme Mitchell, senior lecturer in public health at Liverpool John Moores University, told MailOnline: ‘We remember Ashley as a keen and popular student who was looking forward to a career in public service.
‘She has recently obtained her registration as an environmental health practitioner and had secured a promotion within Knowsley Council.
‘She obtained her degree, despite the personal tragedy of having her brother killed. We’re all in shock at the moment.’
Meanwhile, Merseyside Police were called to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive at around 8.10pm where they found a woman with a stab wound. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition but died.
In the same incident, a man in his 30s is also being treated in hospital after being stabbed in his arm and body.
Officers have detained a 38-year-old man on suspicion of s18 and affray while a 32-year-old man later handed himself in and was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Detective Inspector Laura Lamping said: ‘We are currently in the very early stages of an investigation as we seek to establish what has taken place.
‘We believe there was an altercation which started inside the premises and carried on outside. Sadly, a woman suffered a stab wound which proved to be fatal.
‘We currently have two people in custody but out enquiries remain ongoing. I would ask anyone who was in the vicinity of Cherryfield Drive who saw or heard anything or has any information which could assist the investigation to contact us as a matter of urgency.’
Merseyside Police have asked anyone with information on the Knotty Ash shootings to direct message @MerPolCC or call @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111 quoting log 1083 of August 22.