Police release footage of moment man arrested on suspicion of Olivia’s murder

Police have released aerial footage of the moment a man was arrested on suspicion of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

Merseyside Police published the black and white footage on Friday afternoon, hours after confirming a 36-year-old man, from the Huyton area, had been arrested on suspicion of Olivia’s murder and two counts of attempted murder.

He is currently in custody being questioned by detectives.

The schoolgirl was shot on Monday night by a gunman who chased his intended target into the family home in Dovecot, Liverpool, also injuring her mother Cheryl, 46.

A spokeswoman for the force said the video shows a man being led out of a property and towards a police van, surrounded by armed officers, on Thursday evening.

The officers can be seen leading the man away due to heat signature technology in the clip.

It comes after neighbours described how armed police descended on a block of flats in Huyton on Thursday night in a raid.

One neighbour said: “We saw armed police, all in black with balaclavas on and machine guns.

“They closed the road off.

“They were here at about 10.30pm for about an hour and anyone who came out of their house they would shout at to go in.

“I think it was coming to an end when I saw them because I saw them putting the battering ram back in the car.”

On Friday afternoon, a police Matrix van pulled up in the car park of the flats and five officers were seen entering the top-floor flat.

One officer took a ladder into the property.

Police then left carrying a clear plastic bag which appeared to contain other bags, boxes and material.

Officers would not confirm if the activity was linked to the investigation into Olivia’s murder.

The force has also released an image of a black Audi Q3, which they believe was the same vehicle used to take a 35-year-old man who was also injured in the shooting to hospital.

Convicted burglar Joseph Nee, 35, from the Dovecot area, has been named as the man injured and the intended target of the shooting.

As Olivia lay dying, he was picked up by friends in a black Audi Q3 and taken to hospital.

A message on a box of flowers left among tributes at the scene read: “So sorry for your loss of beautiful Olivia. Rest in peace, thinking of all family. Nee family.”

The vehicle in the image has been seized and detectives are appealing for information from witnesses who saw the car in the days leading up to the shooting, or have information about its movements afterwards.

Detective Superintendent Mark Baker said: “Although we have made an arrest in connection with the horrific murder of Olivia, I want to make it completely clear that we need any information about this vehicle or the wider investigation as much as ever.

“Whatever information you have, and whether you are sure that it is the same vehicle or not, pass it on and we will assess its importance.”

Olivia’s family have paid tribute to her, describing her as a “unique, chatty, nosey little girl who broke the mould when she was born”.

They added: “Although her life was short, her personality certainly wasn’t and she lived it to the most she could, and would blow people away with her wit and kindness.”

The family have urged people to “do the right thing” and said: “If anyone knows anything, now is the time to speak up. It is not about being a ‘snitch’ or a ‘grass’, it is about finding out who took our baby away from us.”

Olivia’s death came 15 years after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead on his way home from football practice in Croxteth, Liverpool.

On Friday morning, former Liverpool FC player Ian Rush and ex-Everton player Ian Snodin added floral wreaths to the other flowers, balloons and teddies left in Olivia’s memory at the police cordon.