Enough is ENOUGH

After the death of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel, it's time to stamp out violent organised crime once and for all

- MISHAAL KHAN, JAMES RILEY

On 22 August 2007, 11-year-old schoolboy Rhys Jones was murdered while he walked home from football practice, struck by a stray bullet as a gangland dispute unfolded.

Exactly 15 years later, in the same city where Rhys lost his life, Olivia PrattKorbel, nine, was shot dead - and became yet another innocent victim of senseless violence.

In the days surrounding Olivia's tragic death, three other lives were lost in Liverpool. That same week, London saw six murders. Each life lost as a result of gun or knife crime, many entangled in gangland violence.

In England and Wales, between 2021-2022, 710 homicides were recorded, an increase of 140 compared with the previous year.

Now campaigners are demanding immediate action to crack down on organized crime.

Woman remembers the victims of this epidemic and speaks to a charity working behind the scenes to prevent another tragedy.

Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Cheryl Korbel had simply opened her front door to see what the commotion was outside her home in Dovecot, Liverpool. Moments later, her nine-year-old daughter Olivia Pratt-Korbel had been shot fatally. Olivia, who was about to start Year 5 at primary school, had been standing at the foot of the stairs in her family home when a man, being chased by a balaclava-clad gunman, forced himself through the door.

Police work

Following Olivia's killing, Merseyside Police spoke about the need for people to share information with authorities in order to see change, and promised to clamp down on organized crime. Detective chief superintendent and head of investigations Mark Kameen said, 'Our ongoing operation is targeting suspected organized crime groups and serious violence across Merseyside and beyond. The information we have received from our communities has been phenomenal and vital in our recent investigations."

Ashley Dale