Brianna Ghey's tragic final hours - worried text to mum and chilling footage of killers

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Brianna Ghey was tragically lured to a local park by fellow schoolchildren and then brutally murdered in a vicious assault.

A three-day inquest into the 16 year old transgender teen's death concluded that she was unlawfully killed by her classmate and a friend, although it was determined that neither their schools nor the local authority could have anticipated the murder. In a harrowing incident, Brianna was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in her head, neck, chest, and back in broad daylight at Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of February 11 last year, reports the Mirror.

Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were both 15 at the time, received life sentences for the "sadistic" killing. Brianna had attended Birchwood High School in Warrington, where she met Jenkinson, a new student from Culcheth High School who had previously been involved in an incident involving cannabis-laced sweets given to a younger pupil.

After her "managed transfer" from Culcheth, where Ratcliffe was also a student, Jenkinson quickly became fixated on Brianna and started conspiring with Ratcliffe to commit the heinous crime. The malicious duo both pleaded not guilty to murder, each pointing the finger at the other for the tragic sequence of events.

Throughout the extensive trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors were exposed to evidence of their morbid fascination with violence and torture, as well as the heartbreaking final moments of Brianna's life before she succumbed to the appalling attack. During the trial, jurors were shown footage from a Ring doorbell camera, which captured Brianna's last moments leaving her home in the Birchwood area.

The video shows her exiting her front door at around 12:45 pm, wearing a white hoodie, black skirt, and knee-high white socks, with a bag slung over her shoulder. She is seen walking down the path, still engrossed in her phone, before passing out of sight. This was the final time she was seen leaving her home.

Brianna then boarded the number 28 bus from Birchwood Station to Culcheth Library, where she was to meet her killers. In a statement read to the court, bus driver Kieran Mercer recalled: "From the moment I saw her, I felt there was something odd about her. I felt as if she was going out of her way not to be seen. She was very timid and quietly spoken. She gave the impression she was just someone who wanted to be left alone."

At 1:41 pm, Brianna sent a message to her mother, Esther Ghey, saying: "I'm on bus by myself. I'm scared".

Ms. Ghey responded with "That's well good", later explaining in court that she was proud of her daughter's independence, but didn't think Brianna saw her response. Kieran Mercer's statement also noted that Brianna's attire stood out to him, given the freezing temperatures that day, and that she had requested a 'child single to Culcheth' when boarding the bus.

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Brianna was reported to have "last logged onto WhatsApp" at 1.47pm. Jenkinson and Ratcliffe met her at the bus stop before they made their way to Culcheth Linear Park.

Another Ring doorbell camera captured the three teenagers entering an alleyway leading to the park at 2.02pm. A statement was read on behalf of witness Rachel Powell, whose son is in a relationship with Esther Ghey, Brianna's mother.

She said she was driving in Culcheth on February 11 and noticed Brianna walking on the pavement with two people. She said she only saw them for a 'couple of seconds' and was paying attention to Brianna, due to her being a family member.

Ms Powell described them as 'normal teenagers' who were 'talking and laughing' and said that 'nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary' - but this was far from the truth. The court heard that the two teens used a codeword to signal when to start the attack on Brianna.

Meanwhile, police later discovered a chilling note detailing the murder plan in Jenkinson's bedroom when she was arrested, which was read out in court by Ms Heer. It read: "Meet Eddie at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library ... bus stop. Wait until Brianna gets off bus then the 3 of us walk to linear park. Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to Eddie. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. Eddie drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc."

Later that day, at 3:13 pm, a dog walker called the emergency services after discovering Brianna severely injured. She was declared dead at the scene at 4:02 pm.

Ms. Heer stated: "The number of wounds and the pattern of injuries, taken as a whole, suggests that Brianna was subjected to a prolonged and violent knife attack."

She informed the court that soft drink bottles were found at the scene with DNA from Jenkinson and Ratcliffe, confirming their presence. She mentioned that they stayed together as they walked away from the park and were captured on dashcam footage walking together on Wigshaw Lane at 3:15 pm.

CCTV footage showed them heading towards Jenkinson's residence. She arrived around 3:20 pm and deleted a Snapchat conversation she had with Brianna at 3:44 pm.

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe was seen on CCTV 'apparently wiping his hands, which appeared to be red in color' before boarding the bus to return home, arriving around 4 pm. His mother, Alice Hemmings, told the inquest that she called her son to say she was in the area to pick him up, but he was "happy to get the bus home".

Ms. Hemmings said he 'whistled' instead of saying hello. She stated: "I could hear people in the background but felt uneasy. I just felt like I needed all my family at home with me, I didn't feel relaxed that day and there was too much to do."

"I texted to see if he was home when I finished work and he said yes. He came down differently, pleased to see me and allowed me to hug him. He wanted to stay downstairs and be in the family environment."

From the age of 14, Jenkinson had developed a disturbing interest in real-life killings and torture videos on the dark web, fantasised about murder, and showed an interest in serial killers, as revealed during her murder trial.

However, these "dark fantasies" were unknown to their school or any other adults, the trial heard. The three-day inquest at Warrington Coroner's Court scrutinised the safeguarding measures for all three teenagers and how Brianna came into contact with Jenkinson.

Despite Jenkinson's disruptive behaviour at school, no one could have predicted that she was planning and would eventually murder Brianna, the hearing was told. Jacqueline Devonish, senior coroner for Cheshire, concluded the inquest by stating: "There was no reason for anyone to suspect the friendship was anything other than genuine. "I found Birchwood High School offered Brianna a high standard of support within a caring environment.

" Ms Devonish noted there were no visible signs that Brianna was in danger from Jenkinson. She further added: "She had been planning Brianna's murder since late 2022. Eddie Ratcliffe was the only person who knew, other than Scarlett Jenkinson.

"spiked"I found that the schools could not have reasonably foreseen that Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe would have plotted and murdered Brianna. It could not have, on the evidence available at the time, reasonably have been foreseen that Scarlett Jenkinson was mentally unstable so that she would kill.

" Jenkinson has been sentenced to serve a minimum of 22 years before being eligible for parole, while Ratcliffe must serve 20 years.

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