Liverpool’s gang bosses are fleeing to their overseas mansions as police crack down on organized crime after the city was rocked by the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel
- Two men were released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel
- Liverpool crime bosses have fled abroad as tips are received by police
- Sources revealed that gangsters are also rushing to get guns and drugs
Liverpool crime bosses have fled to their villas abroad as the code of silence, which prevents people from giving tips to the police, was shaken by the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
Sources revealed gangsters are also rushing to smuggle guns and drugs out of town while police crack down on organized crime in a series of raids in their hunt for the masked hitman who killed the nine-year-old on Monday.
Last night two men, aged 36 and 33, were released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of murder on Friday.
Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, was gunned down at her family home after a balaclava-clad gunman broke in at night to go after drug dealer Joseph Nee. Olivia’s mother Cheryl was also shot in the wrist and Nee was left with serious injuries
In their first statement since Olivia’s death, the family said she was a “unique, talkative, inquisitive girl” who “loved life and all it had to offer.”
Two men arrested on suspicion of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel have been released on bail. Merseyside Police yesterday said one of the men, a 33-year-old from Dovecot (pictured being taken away), has been arrested on two counts of attempted murder.
2007 saw dozens of high-profile arrests after the gun murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones put the spotlight on organized crime families in Liverpool. And now they fear their grand homes in upscale suburbs will be raided again as the horror of Olivia’s murder shatters the traditional wall of silence that prevents the public from speaking to the police about illegal activity.
“Right now, they will worry that their homes will be searched. There will be many sudden holidays to Spain and Turkey,” said Dr. Simon Harding, director of the National Center for Gait Research.
On Monday night, a masked gunman chased heroin dealer Joseph Nee into the home of the schoolgirl’s innocent family.
As Olivia’s mother, Cheryl, desperately tried to shut her front door, the gunman opened fire, one of the bullets going through her wrist and into Olivia’s chest. Nee was also wounded.
The Mail on Sunday understands the name of the suspected shooter circulating at the scene is that of a convicted gunman whose brothers are believed to be drug lords. The police declined to comment.
In an emotional statement, Olivia’s family said: “If anyone knows anything, now is the time to speak up. It’s not about being a snitch or a weed, it’s about finding out who took our baby away from us.’
The crowd at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium stood and applauded Olivia in the ninth minute of yesterday’s win over Bournemouth and then sang You’ll Never Walk Alone. Skipper Jordan Henderson wore a RIP Olivia shirt.
dr Robert Hesketh, a criminologist at Liverpool John Moores University who studies gangs in the city, said organized crime is run by established families who “don’t get their hands dirty” and in big houses in Crosby, Formby and Southport Life.
Former Liverpool FC player Ian Rush (right) and ex-Everton player Ian Snodin added wreaths of flowers to the other flowers, balloons and teddies left at the police line in Olivia’s memory
“These aren’t kids hanging out on street corners,” he said. ‘These are the guys in upscale houses. They wear suits. None of them will be happy at all. You’re going to disappear for a while.
“This was justified by the fact that the police have leads – if it had been an ordinary event the police would have taken action.”
Liverpool’s organized crime is run by local families, while cities like London have foreign gangs moving in from places like Albania.
Merseyside has long been associated with gun crime, and gangsters still have access to handguns in ways they can’t in other places.
Analysis by the National Crime Agency found 70 per cent of links to guns went back to Liverpool and the North West.
