Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder: Thomas Cashman’s getaway driver sentenced to 22 months in prison

The man who helped Olivia Pratt-Korbel’s killer flee after she was shot and killed in her Dovecot home has been sentenced.

Paul Russell, 41, admitted driving convicted killer Thomas Cashman away from an address he fled to after the shooting and disposed of a bag of clothing.

In eary April, Cashman was sentenced to a minimum of 42 years in prison after being found guilty or murdering nine-year-old Olivia in August last year.

Russell pleaded guilty to assisting an offender at Liverpool Crown Court. Although the plea hearing was held in October, reporting restrictions were placed upon the media until until the conclusion of Cashman’s trial.

Russell appeared at Manchester Crown Court via video link on April 26 and was sentenced to 22 months in prison for assisting an offender. He will be given a new identity. He will not be allowed to return to Merseyside following his release.

It it likely he will be released on license within the next six months, due to already spending six months on remand.

Appearing via video link: Justice Yip told the court, “For sensitive reasons, for matters of security, that will become apparent during the hearing, the authorities preferred that he was sentenced over the link rather than being brought to court physically.”

Tom Schofield, defending, said Russell was ‘genuinely terrified’ of Cashman. He also said Russell was ‘issued with a threat to life notice,’ after being charged with assisting an offender.

Naming Cashman: When interviewed by the police, Paul Russell admitted his involvement and named Cashman. Junior Counsel for the prosecution, Henry Riding, submitted that Russell be given a 25% sentence reduction due to the timing of his guilty plea. Russell is said to have been unaware of what Cashman had done until the following day, and he then contacted police.

Sentence reduction: The maximum penalty for the assisting an offender is 10 years. The prosecution said, “Mr Russell was unaware of the full scale and true horror of what Cashman had done,” and sought a 1/3 sentence reduction. Justice Yip gave Russell a 25 per cent sentence reduction for his guilty plea.

Justice Yip said: “You were not prepared to protect Mr Cashman from the consequences of killing a child. It is apparent you were expressing genuine fear about the potential consequences for you and your family.” She added: “Your assistance was significant. Disposing of evidence is always serious. Those early hours are often critical to an investigation.”