The gangs and guns of Liverpool
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 September 2022
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On a Monday evening last month, 9-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in Liverpool by a stranger. It’s the latest in a spate of deadly gun and knife attacks in the city. So what’s going on in Liverpool’s underworld? Why is it seemingly so easy to get guns in the city? And why are so many dying at the hands of those they’ve never met?
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Guests:
- Fiona Hamilton, Crime and Security Editor, The Times.
- Dr Robert Hesketh, Chartered Psychologist and Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University.
Host: David Aaronovitch.
Producer: Olivia Case
Clips: Merseyside Police, Sky, Liverpool Echo, ITV, The Sun.
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Transcript
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| 0:26.8 | Rigoletto. Power gets the last laugh. |
| 0:34.3 | A warning. This podcast contains the sound of fatal gunshots. |
| 0:42.5 | On August the 22nd, nine-year-old Olivia Prattcore Bell was at home in Dufke at Liverpool |
| 0:47.8 | when her mum heard a noise outside. She opened the door to see what was going on. |
| 0:53.7 | One man forced his way inside, chased by another, who was armed with a gun. |
| 0:59.6 | As the gunmen fired, Olivia's mum was hit in the wrist. The same bullet struck Olivia in the chest |
| 1:06.4 | and killed her. Monday evening, 10pm, the sound of shooting. |
| 1:18.2 | It's the moment that nine-year-old Olivia Prattcore Bell was gunned down in her own home. |
| 1:24.8 | Both men were complete strangers to the family. Olivia was just the unlucky victim of a spate |
| 1:31.2 | of violence in Liverpool where last month, stray bullets and mistaken identities led to the deaths |
| 1:37.0 | of three people in just one week. Much loved and incredibly popular. Tributes are pouring in for |
| 1:44.4 | 12-year-old Ava White killed in Liverpool last night. Last Tuesday, 22-year-old Sam Rimmer was shot |
| 1:51.9 | dead in the city by gunmen on electric bikes then on Sunday. 28-year-old Ashley Dail was also shot |
| 1:58.2 | dead at her home. Seven years after her teenage brother died in similar circumstances. |
| 2:03.9 | So I'm so sorry to report that at around half past midnight, |
| 2:07.6 | police were called to lengths to road and we found a young lady had been shot and fatally wounded. |
| 2:13.6 | So what's going on in Liverpool? Why are guns seemingly so easy to get hold of |
| 2:19.3 | who are the people using them and are the problems unique to the city? |
... |
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