The suspected target of a bungled gangland assassination in Liverpool that resulted in a nine-year-old girl being shot dead in her own home was arrested as police hunted the gunman.
Joseph Nee (35), from the Dovecot area of Liverpool, was out on licence and serving a prison sentence when a gunman tried to shoot him in the street on Monday evening, it has emerged.
He was arrested on Tuesday in hospital for breach of his licence conditions and would be returned to prison, Merseyside police said.
They declined to name the offence for which he was jailed, but the Guardian understands he is well-known to police as a member of an organised crime group connected to drugs.
Nee remains in hospital with police by his bedside asking him about the shooting and the events leading up to it.
He was released last year from prison under a policy of automatic release at the halfway point of the sentence he had received. He was released with conditions but his offence was not gun-related, sources confirmed.
Police believe Nee walked past the dying Olivia Pratt-Korbel and her injured mother, Cheryl, to reach an escape vehicle — a black Audi containing at least two associates — which took him to hospital for treatment for bullet wounds.
Police have said Nee forced his way into the home to escape his would-be assassin, after Olivia’s mother opened the door to see what the noise was outside.
Horror at Olivia’s killing reverberated around Liverpool and the country with police appealing for information to identify the gunman.
Unusually they have appealed to criminals to inform, hoping they will be revulsed by the callous nature of the shooting that caused the death of a child from a family unconnected to criminality.
DCS Mark Kameen said the 35-year-old man under arrest had allegedly breached his licence conditions with “poor behaviour” and had been detained in hospital.
A statement from Merseyside police said: “A 35-year-old man, suspected to have been the target of the shooting, has been detained in hospital on a prison recall after breaching the terms of his licence.
“He will be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his licence. He will be further questioned in connection with the murder and remains in a stable condition.”
Kameen added: “We will do all we can to take all of these involved in gun crime off the streets, as this arrest demonstrates. This is not the time for anyone who knows who was responsible to stay silent. It is a time for us all to make Merseyside a place where the use of guns on our streets is totally unacceptable and those who use them are held to account. If you saw, heard, captured or know anything, tell us directly or anonymously and we will continue to act.”
Information and possible names of suspects are understood to have been received by police.
The fatal shooting of Olivia is the third firearms homicide in Merseyside in a week, after more than a year without any similar crimes. Raids were staged on Wednesday in connection with the first shooting last Tuesday evening of Sam Rimmer, who was struck by bullets as he stood in the street believed to be fired by assassins riding electric bikes. A man aged 20 was arrested in connection with the incident.
Police are planning more raids in relation to the other shootings as they try to damp down any threat of reprisal shootings.
Extra armed officers and detectives have been drafted in from forces across northwest England to provide extra patrols and to hunt down gang members.
Olivia died on Monday night when a man, unknown to the family, ran into her terrace house in Kingsheath Avenue, in the Dovecot area of the city, in an attempt to get away from a gunman, police said.
The nine-year-old was standing directly behind her mother, Cheryl, when the gunman opened fire. The bullet struck Cheryl in the wrist and passed through her and into Olivia’s chest. The gunman fired again at the fleeing alleged gang member. — Guardian