Eddie Ratcliffe was convicted of murdering Brianna Ghey(Image: MEN Media)

Mum of sick teen who killed Brianna Ghey insisted he was "good and caring" boy

Eddie Ratcliffe was jailed for life in December last year after he was convicted alongside Scarlett Jenkinson of murdering Brianna Ghey

by · The Mirror

Eddie Ratcliffe’s mum claimed her son was a ‘caring boy’ with ‘good morals’ who dreamed of studying at Oxford university before he slaughtered Brianna Ghey.

The killer’s mother described him as a ‘sensitive boy’ with ‘good morals’ just days after had stabbed Brianna Ghey to death in a sick murder plot.

With his accomplice, Scarlett Jenkinson, the teenager had lured Brianna to her death with a false tale that they were meeting to take drugs in a park.

Instead the pair, both 15 at the time, stabbed Brianna 28 times with a knife Eddie had brought home from a family holiday to Bulgaria.

They left the transgender teen in a pool of her own blood in Culcheth Linear Park, Warrington, where she was later discovered by a dog walker.

For the first time, a statement from Eddie’s mother, Alice Hemmings, has been made public at an inquest into Brianna’s death today.

Brianna Ghey was lured to a park in her hometown and stabbed to death by two of her school peers( Image: PA)

She said: “I would like to reiterate that Eddie is a good child with good morals and with a loving, caring family behind him, he struggles to express himself, he’s very shy and lacks confidence.

She added: “He is a sensitive character, quite private but a very caring child.”

In a bombshell revelation, Ms Hemmings told how Eddie - now caged for life with a minimum term of 20 years - had dreamed of going to university to study microbiology and had already been granted a position at Oxford ‘s Priestley College should he get the grades.

A court sketch of Eddie Ratcliffe during the trial( Image: PA)

She said: “He is polite and articulate if conversing on something that interests him like scientific facts.”

The mum of three described how she had dropped her son off in Culcheth on the day of Brianna’s murder and ‘felt uneasy’ but didn’t know why.

She told how she suspected that Eddie might be meeting a girl, but he had insisted he was meeting one of his “male friends”.

Brianna, 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park( Image: PA)

She said: “As I was driving him to Culcheth he seemed a bit tense and moody which is not like him at all.

“I know he's a teen but he's not a generic teen.

“He was on and off his phone, he seemed unsettled and particularly snappy with his brother that week

“It was no different to any other day. He wanted dropping at Sainsbury’s

“I wanted to see his male friend to put my mind at rest but I couldn't see him

“Eddie seemed in a rush to close the door…

“I don't know why but I felt uneasy on this day.”