Meeting PM was 'surreal', says OIivia's mum

The mother of a nine-year-old girl who was murdered in Liverpool has described a meeting with the prime minister as "surreal" as she continues her campaign to stop criminals refusing to attend sentencing hearings.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in her family home in August 2022 as gunman Thomas Cashman fired shots at a rival drug dealer he was chasing.

Her mother Cheryl Korbel met Sir Keir Starmer to discuss her campaign after this week's prime ministers questions, alongside her cousin Antonia Elverson

Ms Korbel said: "I think I'm still in shock, because we've been thrown into a world we knew nothing about. So even sitting in the House of Commons it's – mouth open, surreal."

Ms Korbel began her fight after Olivia's killer Cashman refused to appear in the dock for his sentencing.

A new bill has since been introduced in parliament that could give judges additional powers to punish offenders who skip their sentencing.

Starmer praised Ms Korbel and said her determination to bring about change would be "heard by the whole world".

Ms Korbel's victim impact statement from Cashman's trial was read to the Commons by her MP Anneliese Midgley during a debate on the Victims and Courts Bill yesterday.

Ms Elverson said: "We were actually invited to PMQs by the prime minister. It was important that we were there to hear what he had to say about Cheryl's statement.

"And as he said, it will be heard around the world.

"Then we had a private meeting with Sir Keir afterwards which was a really nice moment."

It is not the first time the family have met the prime minister, who last year said the pledge to bring in the law was a "promise" he "intended to keep".

Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, Ms Korbel said: "Me as a person, if something needs doing it gets done.

"Olivia and the other families who have gone through this are the driving force so other families don't have to go through what we did."

In the Commons, Starmer said: "I am always humbled by those with the courage to respond to appalling heartbreak by campaigning for change and I know the whole house will pay tribute to her extraordinary courage and resolve."

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