When Brianna Ghey left home on 11 February, she thought she was going to meet a friend. But in what detectives described as the “ultimate betrayal”, the 16-year-old had been lured from her house that Saturday afternoon by a girl with “murderous intent”.
A little more than two hours later Brianna, who was transgender, was stabbed 28 times in her head, neck and back with a hunting knife in broad daylight in Linear Park in Culcheth, near Warrington.
In the weeks before her murder two 15-year-olds, known only as girl X and boy Y, had meticulously planned the killing as they exchanged thousands of texts and WhatsApp messages.
Manchester Crown Court heard the killers shared “dark thoughts” and talked about their fascination with serial killers, violence, torture and death.
As their conversations moved from horror films and Sweeney Todd to thoughts of murder, they compiled a “kill list” including Brianna and four other children.
In one exchange they discussed how they could kill one boy by hanging, but girl X said: “If we can’t get [him] tomorrow we can kill Brianna.”
She said she was “obsessed” with Brianna, while boy Y referred to her as “it” in what Cheshire Police Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans called “transphobic messages”.
But he said no motive has been identified for the murder and believes it was simply Brianna’s “availability and accessibility” that made her the victim that day, adding: “This was about murderous intent for anyone.”
“They had a real thirst for death and for murder,” he said. “We believe that there were others possibly who it would’ve been had it not been Brianna.”
‘So I bring my knife’
Jurors were told girl X boasted of giving Brianna an overdose of ibuprofen gel in the weeks before her death.
Her mother Esther Ghey remembered she was “really sick”, adding: “She was writhing around in pain screaming, ‘I think I’m going to die’.”
In another exchange, girl X told boy Y that Brianna, from Birchwood, Warrington, had agreed to meet and he replied: “So I bring my knife.”
Girl X said: “Yes, is it definitely sharp enough btw,” then: “Meet me at the wooden posts in Linear at 12, we’ll go over plan again and I’ll show you where I’m killing her and then we both walk to the library to meet her.
“And grab onto Brianna, slit her throat, when she starts to fall stab her in the back then pass me knife. I want to stab her at least once even if she’s dead jus coz its fun lol.”
Brianna didn’t keep the arrangement on 28 January because of a family birthday but after agreeing to another meeting two weeks later girl X told boy Y she was “excited af” – meaning as f*** – the night before the killing.
CCTV footage shows Brianna getting on the bus to meet the pair and looking at her phone when she sent her mother a message saying: “I’m on the bus by myself, I’m scared”.
“That’s well good,” her mother replied. She told the jury she “was really proud of her” as she didn’t go out much because of her anxiety, but doesn’t think her daughter ever read the message.
‘Murder plan’ found in bedroom
“I think this was the ultimate betrayal of someone she considered to be a friend who has lured her out of her house,” said Det Ch Supt Evans. “She thought she had a friend and actually that friend was planning to kill her.”
In the hours after the stabbing, Girl X shared a tribute to “amazing friend” Brianna online and told her mother and police the victim had left the park with a young man from Manchester.
But she and boy Y were arrested within 24 hours of Brianna’s body being found by walkers and detectives said they seemed “quite timid but assured” until they realised the weight of the evidence against them.
A knife and blood-soaked clothes were found in the boy Y’s bedroom.
A crumpled handwritten note described as a “murder plan”, was found on the floor of girl X’s bedroom with the heading: “Saturday, 11th February, 2023. Victim Brianna Ghey.”
With a smiley face and a heart in the top corner, the note said: “I say code word to [Boy Y]. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in stomach. [Boy Y] drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”
“They thought they could take another human life and they thought there wouldn’t be any comeuppance for them and they’d never get caught,” said Det Ch Supt Evans.
“Really, their downfall has been there confidence or arrogance.”
A ‘deadly influence on each other’
The officer described both killers as “high-functioning intelligent children”, although their age and mental health issues meant they were afforded special measures in court, including fidget toys and a schedule similar to a school day.
Articulate girl X, who was said to have “traits” of autism and ADHD, told the jury she had seen boy Y stabbing Brianna five or six times after hearing screams.
Boy Y, who gradually stopped talking following his arrest and was diagnosed with autism and selective mutism, typed his evidence, claiming he had given his knife to girl X, who had stabbed Brianna.
After the pair, who are now aged 16, were convicted, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deputy crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: “They were both equally responsible in planning the killing and carrying it out.”
She said the pair “appear to have been a deadly influence on each other and turned what may have started out as dark fantasies about murder into a reality”.
“The messages provided a terrifying insight into the warped fantasies of the two defendants,” Ms Doyle added.
“However, they also provided us with the detailed planning of the attack and the attempts to cover it up.”