The man accused of killing Olivia Pratt-Korbel is attempting to “pull the wool over juror’s eyes”, the prosecution in his trial has claimed.
Meanwhile, the defence has argued that hitmen don’t discover their goal after which “go home for tea”.
Thomas Cashman, 34, is accused of killing the nine-year-old in Liverpool final August as he chased a convicted drug supplier.
In his closing speech on Monday, David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, stated it was a “case that shocked not simply a city not too far away from here but also a nation”.
“The news at the time made front-page headlines across the country and this is a case which will live with you forever,” he advised the jury of 10 males and two ladies at Manchester Crown Court.
He stated Cashman would have the jury consider that the “strands of evidence put forward by the prosecution” are a “series of misunderstood or random, unconnected events, in short simply a multitude of coincidences that don’t point in the direction of his guilt”.
Mr McLachlan stated the prosecution’s conclusion is that Cashman is “not the unluckiest man in the world with all these circumstances conspiring against him”.
“He is not the victim of a woman trying to stitch him up for murder. The man in the dock, we submit, is the gunman who shot Olivia and he is not prepared to own it.
“We say – however you’ll resolve – that Thomas Cashman should assume that you simply had been all born yesterday.”
He advised the jury that they “know better than anyone when someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes; that’s what the prosecution say Thomas Cashman is trying to do”.
Mr McLachlan additionally described Cashman’s proof as a “dummy’s guide to drug dealing in Dovecot”.
CCTV footage of the second the photographs had been fired was proven to the court docket through the prosecution’s closing speech.
Mr McLachlan stated: “The evidence will lead you to the truth.
“The prosecution say he isn’t ready to personal it, he by no means might be, however he is aware of what the reality is and, with respect, nice respect, we respectfully submit that you simply do too.”
Cashman ‘was not the hitman’, defence says
Meanwhile, John Cooper KC, defending, said the prosecution’s argument that Cashman was acting as a “hitman” on the night of Olivia’s death is not the case.
Pointing to the prosecution’s argument that Cashman was “scoping out” an area to shoot Joseph Nee (the intended target of the attack), Mr Cooper said the Crown’s narrative “would not make sense”.
The prosecution has argued Cashman noticed Nee’s van on a number of events whereas travelling across the Dovecot space on the day of the capturing.
Mr Cooper advised the jury that when hitmen discover “their target, they wait for their target, they don’t go home for tea”.
“Why does he [Cashman] behave that way? Because he was not the hitman,” Mr Cooper argued.
“How can the Crown possibly say they put emotion to one side and keep telling you to put emotion to one side when they finished their speech with playing of the horrific CCTV footage, as if you, members of the jury, hadn’t quite got it. Do you feel a little bit insulted by that?
“You get it, you get the tragedy, you get the brutality. Let’s give you a bit of respect, you don’t need it played four times.”
Mr Cooper went onto accuse the prosecution of “Cinderella syndrome”, telling the jury: “We’ll force this evidence into a shoe that doesn’t fit and we’ll play the banging video again a couple of times.”
Cashman denies murdering Olivia, the tried homicide of Joseph Nee, wounding with intent to do grievous bodily hurt to Olivia’s mom, and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to hazard life.
The trial continues.
Source: information.sky.com”