Teens accused of murder of Brianna Ghey blame each other for fatal stabbing

UPDATED: THE teenagers accused of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey at Culcheth Linear Park, Warrington, blame each other for the fatal stabbing.

Brianna, who was transgender, had suffered 28 stab wounds when she was found with fatal wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, shortly after 3 pm on Saturday, February 11 this year.

Opening the trial, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said at about 3pm on February 11 this year, Kathryn and Andrew Vize were walking their dogs in Linear Park, in Culcheth, near Warrington, Cheshire, when they saw a male and female on the path ahead of them.

Ms Heer said: “Mrs Vize saw the male bend down, bending over, as if to tend to a dog, before both he and the female left the path and made their way into an adjacent field, breaking into a run as they did so.
“As they continued along the path, Mr and Mrs Vize discovered that it was not a dog that the male had been bending over, but the bloodied body of a young woman lying face down in the mud.”
Ms Heer told the court the body was that of Brianna, 16, a “young transgender person” who was born a male but lived as a female.

Ms Heer said Brianna Ghey had been stabbed 28 times, to the head and neck and to the back and chest, in a “sustained and violent assault”.
Ms Heer said there was no dispute that the male and female seen running away from Brianna’s body were the two defendants – girl X and boy Y.
She added: “Nor is there any dispute that in the days and weeks leading up to that day, they had discussed killing her.

“Indeed, it is accepted that Brianna Ghey was killed with a knife that belonged to boy Y, a knife which he told girl X he would be bringing with him that day and which he said was sharp enough to kill her.”
The jury was told each defendant denied murder and denied participating in killing Brianna.
Ms Heer said: “Each blames the other.
“The prosecution case is that, whoever it was who delivered the fatal blow or blows, both defendants are equally guilty.
“Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill Brianna Ghey.”

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said messages recovered from the phones of girl X and boy Y showed a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death” and recorded them discussing how they wanted to kill people they knew.
She said: “If that was not an unusual way for two teenagers to speak to one another, the messages demonstrate also how, over time, they encouraged one another to think about how they would actually carry out a killing, and the messages show how they planned together to kill Brianna in just the way that she was in fact killed.”

In November 2022, they discussed killing a child referred to as boy M, the court heard.
In one message, girl X said: “If I do end up killing boy M, I have a really sharp blade, the same one that Sweeney Todd uses.
“If we kill boy M can I keep some things, a couple of teeth and an eye.”
In early December, girl X sent boy Y a video which was apparently an advert for an underground site for people who like rape, snuff, torture and murder, Ms Heer told the court.

Girl X told boy Y: “I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web”, the jury heard.
The court heard on January 1, boy Y sent girl X a photo of a hunting knife and told her: “Spent my money. I bought a knife.”
Ms Heer said: “It was this knife, members of the jury, that was to be used to kill Brianna Ghey just six weeks after this image had been sent.”
The court was told in December last year girl X messaged boy Y telling him she was “obsessed over someone” called Brianna but didn’t have feelings for them.

After she sent pictures of Brianna to him, boy Y asked: “Is it a femboy or a tranny?”
Girl X told him Brianna was trans, sounded just like a girl and looked really pretty, the court was told.
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said on January 23 girl X messaged boy Y telling him she had given Brianna ibuprofen gel tablets that “should have been enough to kill her”.
Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey recalled her daughter had been sick around that time, the court heard.

Deanna Heer KC told Manchester Crown Court girl X claimed to have killed two people in messages to boy Y, but there was no evidence she had.
She said they spoke in messages about other people they wanted to kill and by January 26 had compiled a list of at least four people, as well as Brianna.
The court heard girl X created a fake Instagram account to contact one of their targets, referred to as boy E, but it was blocked.
In a message read to the court, girl X told boy Y: “If we can’t get boy E tomorrow we can kill Brianna.”
Boy Y replied saying: “Yeah, it’ll be easier and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl.”
The pair discussed meeting Brianna and killing her at Culcheth Linear Park the following day, the court heard.
In one message, girl X said: “I want to stab her at least once even if she’s dead jus coz its fun lol.”
Ms Heer said girl X and boy Y did meet each other in Culcheth on January 28, but girl X told him Brianna said she couldn’t come.

Court was adjourned for the day shortly after 4pm and the jury was told to return at 10am on Tuesday, when the prosecution opening of the case will continue.

Earlier the court heard how a girl and a boy, both aged 15 at the time and from the local area, were arrested and charged with the murder of Brianna, a pupil at Birchwood High School, Warrington.
Neither accused can be named by court order because of their age and are identified only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh, Greater Manchester.
The girl, wearing a dress and grey cardigan and the boy, wearing black trousers and shirt with a grey tie, were brought into court shortly before the jury selection process began.

Trial judge Mrs Justice Yip addressed the potential jurors before they retired to complete a jury questionnaire after which they were brought back into court and the jury selected.
Mrs Justice Yip said: “This case concerns the death of Brianna Ghey in February of this year.
“Brianna was stabbed in Linear Park, Culcheth near Warrington. She was aged 16. She lived in Birchwood, Warrington.
“The two defendants are charged with her murder. They are both aged 16, they were 15 at the time.
“There was quite a bit of press reporting and social media coverage at the time, one feature that was given some prominence was the fact that Brianna was transgender.
“If you did see things you may have even formed some initial uninformed views about the case.
“It is perfectly natural to feel shock when you hear of the killing of a young person.”

The judge said most people are capable of dismissing things they had heard in the press or on social media and concentrate on the evidence when they sit on a jury.
Mrs Justice Yip said there were vigils and a crowd fundraiser for Brianna, which are two matters asked about on the jury questionnaire.
The judge added: “There are reporting restrictions that apply in this case because the defendants are children and others are children.
“So, I have made restrictions preventing the naming of the defendants and other children.
“It is really important you understand that applies to you and there could be serious consequences if anyone publishes names.”