I’ve never felt such grief, says Brianna’s mother

The mother of Brianna Ghey said she had “never felt such grief” as her daughter’s killers face sentencing.

Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe murdered the 16-year-old, who was transgender, after luring her to a park in Cheshire in February 2023.

Briana was stabbed 28 times with the pair blaming each other for the murder.

Her mother told the court she believed Jenkinson and Ratcliffe, who are now 16 years old, would always “pose a danger to society”.

“I would never want them to have the opportunity to carry out their sadistic fantasies on another child.

Esther Ghey said the “hardest thing” to come to terms with was finding out that one of those charged with Brianna’s murder was someone she believed to be her daughter’s friend.

“I don’t believe that someone who is so disturbed and obsessed with murder and torture would ever be able to be rehabilitated,” she said.

At Manchester Crown Court, in her victim impact statement, Brianna’s sister Alisha Ghey said she now struggled to trust new people because it was “Brianna’s friend who she trusted who ended her life”.

“No-one can ever make me feel better. The only thing that would is hearing her voice and laughter, and I must carry that pain for the rest of my life,” she said.

Brianna’s father Peter Spooner said being the father of a transgender child had been “a difficult thing to deal with” but he had been “proud to gain another beautiful daughter”.

“We were forming a new relationship and these two murderers have stolen that from us both,” he added.

“I hate how Brianna’s life has been brutally taken away from her and she has been deprived of the life she wanted to live.

“She never had the chance to sit her exams or go on to further education.”

He described his daughter’s killers as “pure evil,” adding: “I cannot call them children as that makes them sound naive or vulnerable which they are not.”

He stepfather Wesley Powell told the court that while Brianna had a large online following, “in reality she was lonely, vulnerable and in need of a close friend”.

“Both Eddie and Scarlett knew this and preyed upon her vulnerabilities, acting as two predators stalking their prey,” he added.

The pair, who were 15 at the time, planned the murder for weeks and had drawn up a “kill list” of five children, before settling on Brianna as their target.

Brianna was attacked with a hunting knife in broad daylight in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, suffering stab wounds to her head, neck, chest.

Both teenagers then went home and carried on as if nothing had happened with Jenkinson later posting an online tribute with a photo of Brianna.

The 18-day trial heard how Jenkinson and Ratcliffe had a fascination with violence, torture and murder.

Messages between them showed they encouraged one another to think about how they would actually carry out a killing.

Both teenagers blamed each other during the trial, however, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said Jenkinson has admitted stabbing Brianna after being convicted of murder to a psychiatrist.

Ms Heer said: “She said effectively, at the time of the killing she had in fact administered stab wounds herself.

“She had snatched the knife from Eddie’s hand and stabbed Brianna repeatedly.

“She said Eddie had thrown Brianna to the floor and stabbed her three or four times then he panicked and said he did not want to kill her, so she carried on and stabbed her a number of times.

“When asked how many, she answered, ‘A lot.’ She was satisfied and excited by what she was doing.”

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk