That Absolutely Amazing Woman

[MrsJackRackham]

I've just read about the woman who gave evidence against the killer of Olivia Pratt-Korbel. What a fucking brave and phenomenal woman. She will have to go into witness protection and leave her whole life behind but she knew it was the right thing to do. And she gave the defence lawyer a mouthful as well by the sounds of it.
I could actually cry thinking about her.

Obviously turning against each other on this thread is understandable - this is an emotive and horrible case and has resulted in a dead child. People are angry and are projecting that anger all over - on the murderer, on the witness, on Liverpool, on the perpetrators partner, his family, other drug dealers, barristers.

But when you boil it down the real issue here is the system - why are we as a society allowing this constant stream of criminality to go on? Why are dead kids the collateral damage? Someone is comfortable enough to let it continue because this shit isn't happening on their doorstep. Why are people who were dragged up exploited into criminalisation and turning to organised crime and going round shooting and stabbing each other? An 18 and 16 year old kid were shot in a taxi in Leeds this weekend. Why are people so fed up with their lives they need to get boxed out of their heads on weed, or coke or smack? Why are people so motivated by the cash that flows from that criminality and so cold inside that it overides that natural human instinct for connection and giving a fuck about another person?

Poverty and inequality creates the death of hope and then people wring their hands and shout 'evil' at the individual people involved - ignoring the fact that the complex, dirty, hard work of system change is actually needed here. You need to change attitudes to addiction, toxic masculinity, substance criminality, poverty, inequality, mental health and equity in opportunity to stop all this shit. Otherwise there will be another Cashman and another Nee and another witness in lifelong witness protection. There will be another Olivia's mum and another Olivia. It is a tragedy.

Plus those neighbour drug dealers you don't "grass on" have killed plenty of other kids and ruined the lives of countless more.

I’m a lawyer. I was once involved in a civil case against a defendant who turned out to be a child. I reported myself to the regulator because I wondered if I had been “oppressive”. They came back to me essentially reminding me to know my place in the justice system ie it was my job to push the case, the State’s job to safeguard, and if I tried to straddle that divide the system would fail. It was surprising but good advice and there is a morality to it.
however, I think the pp has a point in that there are various prejudices (class, race) behind the supposed neutrality of the justice system and these need to be called out. I have seen my client’s barrister fall apart when cross-examining a posh witness with a high position in a famous university.
ps love the witness comments about the smirking!

Haven't read the full thread so may have been linked.
Is there a Go Fund Me page for her? I'd like to send her a bit of money to help her start her new life. If there isn't, would anyone help me start one? Perhaps theres a local charity it could be set up by?

It’s really misplaced to consider fundraising The state will support her financially She’ll be in witness protection for life
Definitely no go fund page or fundraising as it would compromise her,and it’s inappropriate

She did great to testify. I hope she has a happy life, despite having to leave all her family behind.
Side note, everyone deserves a fair trial and the defence are simply doing their jobs.

eh hello, I'm still here and definitely not a journalist 'copying and pasting'. I've been on here for years, a simple check would have confirmed this.
Also, I posted this on Sunday afternoon and had no responses at all until 7pm last night, when I was working, hence no further posts from me until now.
It's actually been quite educating as I didn't fully understand the barrister process and was always quite judgemental about those who defended heinous crimes so thank you to those posters who explained this and the need for a defence to support the judicial process.

It’s not nonsense at all. Of course her life was on the line. What, do you think he would have left it to chance that she wouldn’t shop him? Don’t be so naive.

This thread is in extremely poor taste. The girlfriend did the right thing by reporting the crime. Big deal - it’s what any normal person would do in that situation. The fact that she didn’t have a normal life mixing with normal people doesn’t make her ‘absolutely amazing’ for doing something to save her own neck that any normal person would do because it was the right thing.

Anyone using the word ‘amazing’ in relation to this woman and not the poor child’s mother (who is the only person here deserving of that description) is stupid, frankly.

The only people I feel sorry for connected to this case are the family of Olivia. This thread is in poor taste. Maybe focus on the little girl who lost her life than this woman. She did the right thing in telling the truth but that doesn't make her " amazing".

Exactly. And as if telling the truth when you know who killed a child is somehow extraordinary. Instead of, you know, the most basic thing that might be expected of any human being.

Evidently the people posting on this thread have no such expectations. Someone has even made the astonishing suggestion that there should be a whip round for the woman. You have to wonder if it isn’t the absolutely amazing person herself who started the thread.

And as if telling the truth when you know who killed a child is somehow extraordinary. Instead of, you know, the most basic thing that might be expected of any human being.

I mean you're not wrong in theory, but in reality it must have taken guts to do it in this situation. She would have known she was risking her life, maybe her family's lives. She'd have known she'd likely have to go into witness protection, lose contact with everyone she knows, start her whole life again, and possibly spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder. It would have safer and easier for her to keep quiet, others did. So of course I think anyone should do what she did but not everyone does, and if she hadn't Cashman might have got off. So I think she deserves respect for doing the right thing at a high cost to herself.

Well that’s the risk you take when you shack up with a gangster.

Her obligation to tell the truth was exactly the same as anyone’s obligation who knew someone had killed a child.

Amazing? Please. This thread is enough to make anyone vomit.

Well that’s the risk you take when you shack up with a gangster.

Her obligation to tell the truth was exactly the same as anyone’s obligation who knew someone had killed a child.

She wasn't 'shacked up' with him, the woman he was living with stands by him. She didn't tell whatever she knew, not did the intended victim, the getaway driver, and who knows how many others who knew that Cashman killed a child. I'm not saying nominate her for a Nobel peace prize, of course anyone should do the same, but plenty of others who knew kept quiet. So I think she was brave and has paid a cost for that.

the woman he was living with stands by him.

Even though he cheated on her. Doormat doesn't begin to describe her.

Janette Campbell was absolutely awesome because she reported her suspicions about her own son, without being in fear of her life. This gangster's moll, not so much.

Whatever, @nothingcomestonothing . I don’t really care about semantics, but we can call her his bit on the side if you want to be pedantic.

That’s the risk you take when you choose to become the bit on the side of a gangster then.

Better? Thought not.

Agreed she was brave. She probably also got the reward money, £200,000, but she'll need it and deserved it.

I'm not trying to be pedantic, just trying to say that she spoke up and others didn't, including his partner, and I think she deserves credit for doing so. That's all.

Quite.

And "we don't like people who grass" 🙄

I'm not sure everyone disputing she's amazing really, truly understand how serious the threat to her life will now be. Or have ever feared for their, and their families, lives** in the way she now will have to for the rest of her life.

As others have observed, as long as she knew, she was never going to be safe, as Cashman or one of his associates might decide at any time to make sure she stayed quiet, permanently. Now she gets witness protection, which she would not have had if she had stayed quiet.

This

You’re naive if you think she did this because she was shocked, appalled, horrified at what he’d done and wanted justice to be served. She knew that she wasn’t safe once it was known who he was, and that the only way to be safe was to speak out so that she would be taken out of the situation and carry on her life elsewhere at the taxpayer’s expense.

Let’s not pretend that this woman is a lovely upstanding member of society. She’s the shag piece of a violent drug dealer. She knew what he was, and she knew what he was capable of. Being outraged at the murder of. Child is of course going to show her in a good light, just look at how people on this thread are commending her bravery and calling her amazing. When actually her motives were likely entirely self-serving.

That statement sends shudders of revulsion through me.

I also come from Liverpool. I’m very fond of the place but I haven’t lived there for years and I’d never go back now. My family were old Liverpool - decent, hard working people who valued education and respected the police. @HotSince82 who is “we” and why do you feel the need to show off about this? Aren’t things bad enough without attitudes like that?

Do these people who claim to be proud of "not grassing" ever think about who benefits from that culture of omerta? I'll give you a clue: it's the criminals, not the victims of crime.