Heartless friends of 35-year-old man wounded in Liverpool shooting that left nine-year-old girl dead rescued HIM but left her dying: Merseyside Police urge criminals who ‘crossed every single boundary’ to turn in the child’s callous killer
- Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in her home in Liverpool as gunman chased his intended victim inside
- While Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, desperately tried to keep him out, shooter opened fire through the front door
- Bullet hit Cheryl on hand and Olivia – who was standing directly behind her mother – was struck in the chest
- The callous killer then burst inside and fired two more shots at the man he was chasing, leaving him injured
- Gunman fled while his intended victim was picked up by friends who took him to hospital – ignoring Olivia
- ***Do you have an information about the incident? Email [email protected]***
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, who was killed in a horrific shooting in her home in Liverpool last night
The heartless friends of the intended victim of an appalling shooting in Liverpool that left nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel dead stormed the home and took him to hospital while she lay dying, detectives have revealed today – as Merseyside Police urge criminals to turn in the girl’s callous killer.
The youngster was tragically shot in the chest by a balaclava-clad gunman who opened fire with ‘complete disregard’ for anyone inside as he chased his intended victim – a 35-year-old man – into the home on Kingsheath Avenue.
Olivia’s mother Cheryl attempted to block the gunman from getting in, prompting him to fire into the property. One bullet hit Cheryl in the wrist and her daughter – who was standing directly behind her – in the chest. The nine-year-old was rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by police officers, where she died of her injuries. Her mother is recovering at a separate hospital.
Merseyside Police said that the intended victim’s friends picked him up in an Audi and drove him to hospital – leaving her to die at her home. None of Olivia’s family had any connection whatsoever to any of the men involved.
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.’
Ms Kennedy also warned against a ‘no-grass’ culture taking hold in the community, pledging to protect those who spoke to the police.
‘If people are frightened to come forward, we can have those conversations in confidence,’ she said. ‘Please come forward and let us work with you, so that you can feel confident to give us that information and not feel frightened around the reprisals.’
Her 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.’ 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.
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
Children leave flowers near to the scene in Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, Liverpool
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
Her 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.’
Do you have an information about the incident?
Email [email protected]
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’.
Speaking at a press conference at the force’s headquarters in Liverpool today, Chief Constable Serena Kennedy appealed for anyone with information to come forward, adding: ‘This is not the time for anyone who knows who’s responsible for this shooting to remain tight-lipped.’
Ms Kennedy added: ‘On arrival, our officers could see just how poorly Olivia was and they rushed her to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where, despite the best efforts of medical staff, she sadly died. Her mum was taken to hospital by colleagues from the North West Ambulance Service.
‘This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities, and I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who was responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names.
‘We need to find all who are responsible for this – not just the gunman, we need to find who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident.
Forensic experts are at the scene at this moment in time, conducting house-to-house inquiries, and officers are reviewing CCTV footage to establish and identify who is responsible.’
She also appealed to the ‘criminal fraternity’ in Liverpool for information, adding that the incident ‘crosses every single boundary’.
She added: ‘No mum, no dad, no sister or brother should ever have to experience loss in this way. Poignantly, Olivia was killed on the 15th anniversary of the murder of Rhys Jones – his murder should have been a watershed moment in the battle against gun crime and the use of guns on our streets.
‘But shockingly there are still callous criminals who are prepared to use weapons on our streets and have utter disregard for the heartache and the pain that they have caused to Olivia’s family.’
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 last night. Pictured: The scene this morning 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
DCS Mark Kameen and Chief Constable Serena Kennedy from Merseyside Police speak to the media at force headquarters in Rose Hill
Grandmother is stabbed to death in a pub car park while ‘trying to break up a fight’
A woman who was stabbed to death as she tried to ‘break up a fight’ between two men behind a pub has been named locally as Karen Dempsey.
Officers were called to Brambles pub on Cherryfield Drive, in Kirkby, near Liverpool, at around 8.10pm last night following reports of an altercation.
A woman in her 50s was found in the car park of the venue with a stab wound to her chest consistent with a weapon being used, Merseyside Police said.
The woman has now been named locally as grandmother Karen Dempsey.
A local man told the Liverpool Echo that Karen died after she tried to break up a fight between two men in a service road behind the Brambles pub.
Knife murder victim Karen Dempsey, who died last night
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.’
Ashley Dale, 28, was gunned down in her home in Old Swan, Liverpool on Sunday. Police do not believe the two murders are linked
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 last night 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 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.
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 last night, 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.
A police officer on Kingsheath Avenue, Knotty Ash, where Olivia died. Today residents saw sniffer dogs and police going door to door
Several police cars are pictured on Kingsheath Avenue as officers continue to hunt the gunman responsible for Olivia’s death
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.’
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.
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 this morning patrolling the scene
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.
Ava White (pictured) was stabbed in the neck at the junction of School Lane and Church Alley in Liverpool city centre on November 25 last year
‘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 last night 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.
Tragic death toll of Liverpool’s gun crime: How firearm-wielding gangsters have spilt blood on streets of Merseyside as girl, nine, is shot dead 15 years to the day after Rhys Jones, 11, was killed
By Harry Howard for MailOnline
Last night’s murder of a nine-year-old girl in Liverpool came 15 years to the day since 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead in the city while walking home from football.
The death of the little boy, a devoted fan of Everton football club, triggered national uproar – but gun crime in Liverpool is still sadly all too familiar.
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.
The latest gun killing in the Old Swan area of Liverpool was the third in the space of a week.
On Sunday, 28-year-old woman Ashley Dale was shot dead in the same area, whilst 22-year-old ‘amazing young man’ Sam Rimmer died from gunshot wounds on August 16 in Dingle.
Ms Dale was the sister of 16-year-old Lewis Dunne, who was gunned down on a canal towpath in 2016.
Two years before Rhys’s death, mother-of-three Lucy Hargreaves was shot dead by three masked men while sitting on her sofa in her home – as her children aged nine months, five and two slept upstairs.
And in 2004, 16-year-old Liam Kelly was gunned down in the street over an unpaid £200 debt, and his killer remains at large.
Besides the latest killings, there have been a spate of shootings in recent weeks and months in Liverpool, with a man shot in the leg outside a pub on July 31 and bullets shattering a window opposite a children’s play park on June 8.
Experts have previously told how, since Rhys’s killing, gangs in Liverpool have become less sophisticated but more reckless, meaning violence can break out over seemingly meaningless rows.
Residents of an estate in the Wavertree area – where there were three shootings in three days earlier this year – describing how it is ‘normal’ to hear gun shots as criminals fight over drug-selling territory.
The Woodchurch estate in Wirral has also been hit by gun crime. On March 22, a gunman opened fire on a man while children were playing nearby, leaving him critically injured.
Another incident in the same area in June saw a gang of masked men carrying weapons burst into a pub.
Other shootings have erupted in the Croxteth area, with one on July 10 involving a gunman on an electric bike who shot a man multiple times in the leg.
Despite the crimes, the number of actual shootings on Merseyside is on the decline. According to Merseyside Police, there were 43 shootings last year, compared to 125 in 2012. The figures represent a 43 per cent fall.
And the latest fatal shootings were the first in more than a year, after 26-year-old Patrick Boyle was shot dead last July.
Today, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy named the girl murdered last night as Olivia Pratt-Korbel and said her ‘family are absolutely devastated, inconsolable and heartbroken’.
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
Rhys Jones, killed aged 11 in 2007
The 11-year-old was shot dead in 2007 while walking home from football practice in Croxteth.
The child was caught in the crossfire between two warring gangs – the Strand Gang and the Croxteth Crew.
Sean Mercer – who was 16 at the time of the shooting – was convicted of his murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 22 years.
The bullet fired from the Smith and Wesson gun that was used had been intended for Mercer’s rival Wayne Brady.
Rhys Jones, aged just 11, was shot dead in 2007 while walking home from football practice in Croxteth. The child was caught in the crossfire between two warring gangs – the Strand Gang and the Croxteth Crew. Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of his death
Mercer’s accomplices were also sent to prison. Jason Yates was jailed for seven years aged 20 for supplying the Smith and Wesson pistol.
Sean Mercer – who was 16 at the time of the shooting – was convicted of his murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 22 years
He also helped Mercer to cover his tracks by washing him in petrol in the hope of destroying evidence.
In 2009, Yates was jailed for a further five years after his sentence was judged to have been unduly lenient.
Nathan Quinn, then 18, was jailed for two years for helping Mercer to get rid of the murder weapon and his clothes.
The other accomplices, Melvin Coy and Gary Kays, were sentenced to seven years each, whilst Dean Kelly was jailed for four years.
When the gang were sentenced, Mr Justice Irwin branded them ‘selfish, shallow criminals, remarkable only by the danger you pose to others.’
Speaking last year, Rhys’s father Steve recounted the moment he heard the news that was told by Rhys’s mother Melanie that he had been shot:
‘I was on the M57 heading up towards Southport when Mel phoned saying that Rhys had been shot and I needed to go home,’ he said.
‘She sounded distraught, absolutely in tears, you could hear in her voice.’ With Mel now at the scene, Rhys was rushed to hospital.’
He added: ‘Your mind just doesn’t want to take it in, doesn’t want to accept it.’
The Daily Mail covered the death of Rhys Jones extensively and featured the heartbreaking words of his mother and father Steve and Melanie
Ashley Dale, shot dead aged 28 on Sunday
Ashley Dale was a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University and worked for Knowsley Council. The 28-year-old, described as a ‘lovely, hardworking’ young woman with an ‘infectious’ smile, was shot dead in her home in Old Swan on Sunday
Ashley Dale was a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University and worked for Knowsley Council.
The 28-year-old, described as a ‘lovely, hardworking’ young woman with an ‘infectious’ smile, was shot dead in her home in Old Swan on Sunday.
Thugs 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 graduate Miss Dale 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 Miss Dale and registered to her family. The vehicle has now been removed to be examined.
Ms Dale’s death came seven years after her own brother Lewis Dunne was shot dead aged 16 by a gang who mistook him for a rival, although her death is said to be unrelated to this.
Lewis Dunne, shot dead aged 16 in 2015
Ms Dale’s brother, Lewis Dunne, was gunned down on a canal towpath in 2015 aged just 16.
The ‘kind, gentle’ boy was ‘wholly innocent’ had simply been ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ police said. Police have not linked the siblings’ killings.
Lewis Dunne was on his way to a shop when he walked into the path of four men lying in wait with a loaded weapon and with ‘murderous intent’, Liverpool Crown Court was told.
On the day of his death, Sunday November 15, Lewis had arranged to meet a friend on the canal towpath to borrow his bicycle.
In 2016, Jake Culshaw, then 26, and brothers John and Paul Martin, then aged 20 and 26 respectively, were jailed for life.
Ms Dale’s brother, Lewis Dunne (pictured with his sister), was gunned down on a canal towpath in 2015 aged just 16. The ‘kind, gentle’ boy was ‘wholly innocent’ had simply been ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ police said. Police have not linked the siblings’ killings
Lewis’s mother Gemma Whitfield said after the men were convicted: ‘Lewis was my baby. I was 20 years old when he came into my life and young myself but already older than he would get to be. From the moment I held him in my arms I felt love.
‘I could talk for hours about about Lewis. A smile that would light up a room, a hug that would lessen the worries of the world and a gift for making everyone feel important. You could not be sad in his presence.
‘There is nothing he would not have done for anybody. Wherever he went he got along with people.
‘Lewis was a gentle, peace-loving boy, vibrant and oh so alive, but now he is dead.’
Sam Rimmer, shot dead aged 22 on August 16
Sam Rimmer was shot dead last Tuesday, before two men fled the scene on electric bikes.
Sam Rimmer was shot dead last Tuesday, before two men fled the scene on electric bikes
The 22-year-old was given CPR until paramedics arrived and he was taken to hospital, where he died.
Two men in dark clothing were seen leaving the scene. Merseyside Police said a ‘number of shots’ were fired.
Mr Rimmer’s death was the first murder involving a firearm in Merseyside in more than a year, after Patrick Boyle was killed last July.
Mr Rimmer was described in tributes as ‘an amazing young man’, with his killing branded ‘senseless.’
A series of five loud bangs were reportedly heard when Mr Rimmer was shot.
It is not clear if Mr Rimmer was the intended target of the shooting.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said it was ‘a despicable attack’ and the victim’s family were ‘desperately trying to come to terms with their loss’.
‘We need to find those responsible, and I would ask members of the public who may have information which could help us bring those people to justice to put themselves in the shoes of Sam’s family and think about what they are going through and the pain this has caused them,’ he said.
‘If you live in the area, or were passing through at about 11.40pm on Tuesday, you may have seen something that could be vital for us and I would urge you to get in touch.’
Patrick Boyle, 26 – July 2021
Patrick Boyle was shot twice in the chest in the Newway area of Liverpool on July 1st last year after a row with killers Rueben Murphy and Ben Doyle.
On the day of the murder Murphy was involved in an altercation with another man, Scott Brown, who he claimed owed him money for cannabis and was a friend of the victim.
Mr Boyle was also there, and it appears to have escalated quickly with the thug plotting to kill the victim the same day.
Patrick Boyle (pictured) was shot twice in the chest in the Newway area of Liverpool on July 1st last year after a row with killers Rueben Murphy and Ben Doyle
After picking up the weapon and ammunition, he was picked up by Doyle and driven on an electric bike disguised with black bin bags wrapped around it, to a house in Newway, Huyton, shortly before 6pm, where he opened fire.
Mr Boyle, who had a three-year-old son and was expecting another with his pregnant partner, Ashleigh Dean, died within an hour due to his injuries – Ms Dean was not able to reach the hospital before he died.
Murphy had denied any role in the shooting, claiming he was doing drugs in another part of Huyton at the time.
But police found a treasure trove of evidence, including clothing containing gunshot residue and his DNA in his home, while CCTV also showed he was in the area at the time.
A jury convicted him and Doyle of murder. The pair were jailed for life, with a minimum term of 27 years.
When Murphy was sentenced in July, he branded the judge at Liverpool Crown Court a ‘fat paedophile’ and also shouted ‘f**k the system’.
Rueben Murphy (pictured left), from Huyton, screamed and shouted as he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 31 years for murder. Ben Doyle (right) was also jailed for life and given a minimum term of 27 years for his role in the murder
Lucy Hargreaves, shot dead on her sofa aged 22 in 2005
The 22-year-old mother-of-three was shot dead on her sofa in the Walton area of Liverpool in 2005 by three masked men as her children, aged nine months, two, and five, slept upstairs.
Mother-of-three Lucy Hargreaves was shot dead on her sofa in 2005
The gang then set her on fire. No one has ever been brought to justice for one of Liverpool’s most notorious unsolved murders.
On the night of her murder the duvet cover Lucy was sleeping under was covered in petrol and set alight.
Fuel was also poured around the entrance and stairs of the property to block any escape for those upstairs.
Gary Campbell, Lucy’s boyfriend, who may have been the intended target, was sleeping upstairs with the couple’s youngest daughter Faye.
He escaped the blaze by jumping with his daughter from an upstairs window, before running inside to pull Lucy out.
Tragically, his girlfriend had died from the gunshot wounds.
Despite his heroic actions on the night, Mr Campbell is believed to have been the target because of his past.
Mr Campbell had allegedly been a passenger in a stolen car that hit and killed a four-year-old boy in 1993.
The child who had died was the brother of one of the defendants in the original case.
Tony Downes, stood trial at Liverpool Crown Court, but the case against him and Kirk Bradley, 21, both of Huyton, was dropped.
Police continue to hunt suspect Kevin Parle over Lucy’s death, as well as that of 16-year-old Liam Kelly, who was shot dead in 2004.
Liam Kelly, shot dead aged 16 over £200 debt – 2005
Liam Kelly is believed to have been shot dead due to an unpaid debt of just £200. Anthony Campbell, who was owed the money, pleaded guilty to arranging the teenager’s murder and was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of more than two decades
Liam Kelly is believed to have been shot dead due to an unpaid debt of just £200.
He was shot twice at close range by a masked man carrying a double-barrelled shotgun.
He staggered to a neighbour’s house but then collapsed and died shortly afterwards.
Anthony Campbell, who was owed the money, pleaded guilty to arranging the teenager’s murder and was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of more than two decades.
However, no one has been convicted of Kelly’s murder.
The police’s prime suspect is Kevin Parle, who has been wanted by officers for the past 16 years. He is also wanted over the killing of Lucy Hargreaves.
Parle was arrested in connection with Kelly’s killing but then failed to answer his bail and absconded from the UK.
In a statement, last year, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Baker, of Merseyside Police, said: ‘Despite time passing, we are continuing to investigate Liam’s murder.
‘His family have suffered greatly knowing that Kevin Parle could be out there somewhere and hasn’t been put before the courts.
‘Kevin has denied a teenager reaching major milestones in his life – including family celebrations, birthdays, careers and relationships – something so many of us take for granted.
‘When Liam was murdered, his mother Mary made a heartfelt plea directly to his friends and associates where she begged them to tell the police anything that might help us bring his killers to justice.
Merseyside’s bloody year: At least 14 people killed in the first eight months of the year following a spate of violence
At least 14 people have been killed in Merseyside just eight months into the year, police data suggests, as the county reels from the fatal shooting of a nine-year-old girl.
The spate of violence across the region in 2022 has included the shooting of a 15-year-old girl on her way home from school and the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in Liverpool city centre.
Merseyside Police have issued press releases concerning 14 suspected killings, 11 non-fatal stabbings and 13 non-fatal shootings since the start of 2022.
By comparison, there were 17 homicides recorded by the force across the whole of 2021/22, according to the latest Home Office figures.
Violent crime across the region has been increasing consistently in recent years, according to the Home Office data.
There were 68,720 cases of violence against the person recorded in 2021/22, a figure that has been climbing year on year, up from 45,848 recorded in 2018/19.
Here is a list of the suspected killings, non-fatal stabbings and non-fatal shootings announced by Merseyside Police since the start of 2022:
Suspected killings –
22 August – Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, is shot dead in Knotty Ash.
22 August – Two men are arrested over the fatal stabbing of a woman in her 50s in Cherryfield Drive, Kirkby.
21 August – 28-year-old Knowsley Council worker Ashley Dale died after being shot in the Old Swan area of Liverpool in the early hours of Sunday.
19 August – Sam Rimmer, 19, is shot dead in Lavrock Bank.
27 July – Leroy Venner is killed in Anfield, suffering head injuries and sparking a murder probe.
12 July – Christopher Molly, 55, is killed in Stanley Road, Bootle.
15 May – Derek Burns, 49, is stabbed to death in Tuebrook.
12 May – Karen Wheeler, 62, dies after police attended a flat in Vittoria Court, on Vittoria Close, at around 7.15pm, in response to a report of concern for her welfare. A man has been charged with her murder.
11 May – 43-year-old Lorraine Cullen’s body is found in a property on Radway Road at around 8.30am after she was stabbed to death. A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of her murder is questioned by police and detained under the Mental Health Act.
16 April – Michael Toohey is killed following an attack in an internet cafe in Liverpool.
10 April – 36-year-old Gary Morgan, found stabbed at a house in Lavan Close, Everton, dies of his injuries.
27 March – Five people are arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a man was found in Pensby earlier in the day.
14 March – Dylan Bacon, 39, is stabbed to death in Old Swan.
24 January – A murder probe is launched following the death of a man in his 60s found with serious injuries at a property in Heswall at around 8.45pm on 14 January.
– Non-fatal stabbings
6 August- 19-year-old man is charged with GBH with intent and possession of a bladed article after a stabbing at a pub in Thatto Heath area.
29 June- Police launch an investigation after a 19-year-old man was stabbed in the leg after a confrontation with a group of men in Wavertree.
17 June – Two men are stabbed in an altercation outside a wine bar in Queens Square, police say.
25 May – A 14-year-old boy is stabbed in Campbell Square, Liverpool city centre.
15 May – Officers were called at just before 7.35am to Jubits Lane in St Helens following reports a 23-year-old man had suffered puncture wounds to the leg
8 March – A 16-year-old boy is stabbed in Formby.
21 March – A man is arrested following a stabbing in Birkenhead on 21 March.
3 March – A teenage boy is taken to hospital after he received puncture wounds to his buttocks and a laceration to his wrist at around 3pm. The injuries were not life-threatening.
19 February – At around 5.30pm, police receive a report that a man has been stabbed in Thatto Heath.
15 February – A man is stabbed three times in the buttocks by a group of unknown attackers outside Aldi on Broad Green Road in Old Swan.
30 January – Officers are called to an address on Colbert Close, Wirral to reports that a man had been stabbed in the neck.
– Non-fatal shootings
2 August – Police attend a scene in Walton following reports of an injury shooting.
31 July – Officers receive reports of a man shot in the leg in the car park of a pub on Church Road in Rainford.
10 July – Investigation launched after reports of a man shot and injured in the Croxteth area.
6 July – Two men arrested after man shot in the legs in West Derby.
11 May – At around 10.40pm, a 17-year-old male arrived at Arrowe Park Hospital in Birkenhead with a gunshot wound to his leg.
5 May – Detectives appeal for witnesses to come forward following a shooting in Fazakerley.
26 April – Another injury shooting takes place in Wavertree in the early hours of the morning.
19 April – At around 3pm officers were called to a report that a man had been shot in an alleyway on Rosalind Way, suffering serious injuries.
20 March – Police arrest three men following reports a man was shot and injured in Croxteth on the night of 20 March.
22 March – A man suffers life-changing injuries after being shot in the Woodchurch area of Merseyside.
1 March – An ‘innocent’ 15-year-old girl shot while standing at a bus stop on her way home from school on Upper Warwick Street, police say. A 20 year-old man also suffered a non life-threatening gunshot injury to his hand in the incident.
16 January – A man in his 20s attends the Royal Liverpool University Hospital with gunshot wounds to his chest and arms.
1 January – A 33-year-old man is shot in the torso at a car park at the Netherton pub on Church Road as he entered a car. He was taken to hospital for treatment and has since been discharged.
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