A nine-year-old girl fatally shot as she stood behind her mother who was trying to stop a gunman entering the family home has been identified as Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
The 35-year-old man targeted by the masked gunman who killed Olivia has been arrested for breaching the terms of his release from prison and will be questioned in connection with the nine-year-old's murder, police said on Wdednesday.
Olivia died after the shooting on Monday night when a man not known to the family ran into their terraced house in the Dovecot area of Liverpool in an attempt to get away from a gunman, Merseyside Police said.
Her mother, Cheryl Korbel, 46, was shot in the wrist as she tried to close the door while her daughter stood behind her.
The man who had entered their home suffered gunshot wounds to his upper body and, as Olivia lay dying, was picked up and taken to hospital by friends driving a dark-coloured Audi.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said: “We will not rest until those who are responsible are put behind bars. I can guarantee that no stone will be left unturned.”
The incident happened exactly 15 years after 11-year-old Rhys Jones was fatally shot in Croxteth, Liverpool.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Kameen said Olivia had been at home with her two older siblings and mother when Ms Korbel opened the door after hearing gunshots outside.
He said a figure wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark trousers and black gloves, fired shots at two men walking along Kingsheath Avenue, causing both of them to run away.
One of the men ran towards the open door of Olivia’s home and forced his way in, DCS Kameen said.
“As that was taking place the person with the gun had followed the male to this property,” he said.
“That person has also tried to force entry to the property and has managed, it would appear, to put their hand through the open door as Cheryl continued to try and close it.
“A shot has been fired which we believe has hit Cheryl, injuring her and then fatally wounding Olivia. Olivia at that time, we believe, was stood directly behind Cheryl,” DCS Kameen 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," Merseyside police said.
"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."
Olivia was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by officers but later died.
The Audi used to transport the injured man has since been seized, police said.
DCS Kameen urged the person responsible to come forward.
He said: “My appeal is to the person responsible for this horrendous attack on a nine-year-old schoolgirl to recognise the pain and anguish that this has caused to her family.
“I want that individual to hand themselves in.”
Ms Kennedy said: “This is a shocking and appalling attack which will reverberate around our communities, and I want to take this opportunity again to appeal to anybody who knows who was responsible for this attack to please come forward and give us those names.
“We need to find all who are responsible for this — not just the gunman, we need to find who supplied the weapon and who arranged this terrible incident.”
The force also appealed to the “criminal fraternity” in Liverpool for information, saying that the incident “crosses every single boundary”.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
