The mother of murdered child Olivia Pratt-Korbel has promised to keep her daughter’s memory alive. (Picture: PA)
The mother of Olivia Pratt-Korbel has promised to keep her daughter’s memory alive by throwing her a huge birthday party every year.
Olivia, who would have turned 11 last week, was tragically killed in her home when she was caught in the crossfire of a gangland shooting in Liverpool in 2022.
Thomas Cashman, 34, was jailed for life in April last year for murder after he shot Olivia and injured her mum, Cheryl, as he chased a fellow drug dealer into their home.
The gunman recently renewed his application to appeal after a previous bid was rejected.
At a party on Saturday, her mum Cheryl, 48, told the Mirror: ‘It’s a celebration of Liv’s birthday.
‘It’s a massive year because it’s the year she would have gone to big school. From her first birthday to her ninth, Liv was very sassy and it has crossed my mind how much more sassy she would have been coming up to 11.
Olivia’s mother says she plans to continue her daughter’s legacy of ‘laughing’ and ‘having fun’. (Picture: Facebook)
Ms Korbel reads a statement outside Manchester Crown Court following the sentencing of Cashman earlier this year (Picture: Reuters)
Olivia was killed in her own home on August 22 last year
‘Going to get a new uniform and leaving her old school and separating from friends she had gone right through infants and juniors with, it’s a lot to think about.
‘I want Liv’s legacy to be people having fun and laughing. Having these fun days and seeing everyone come out, even when it’s raining, it means the world.’
Last November, Court officials revealed that while an application has been lodged, it has not yet been considered by an appeal judge – and no appeal hearing date has been fixed.
Olivia, who would have turned 11 last week, was tragically killed in her home when she was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in 2022. (Picture: PA)
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was just 9, got caught in the crossfire of a gang war (Picture: PA)
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Thomas Cashman has been jailed for Olivia’s murder (Picture: PA)
Celebrating Olivia at her birthday, aunt Kim Alcock said: ‘She would have been flying round here swinging her handbag, she would have loved it. We’ll celebrate every year, she will never be forgotten.
‘We’ll always throw a party with all the balloons and presents. Her legacy will always live on. There isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t speak about her.’
Olivia’s family, friends and teachers also transformed St Margaret Mary’s Catholic School into ‘Liv Fest’, raising cash for a second school minibus and adorning the school gates with pink bunting and posters of Olivia.
Cheryl said: ‘It feels like her leaving a gift to the school where she spent so much of her life.’
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