Brianna Ghey murder trial: Accused teenagers had ‘preoccupation with death,’ court hears
Two 16-year-olds accused of murdering transgender teenager Brianna Ghey had a “preoccupation” with death, violence and torture, a court has heard.
The defendants, a girl and a boy, had previously shared messages about “dark web” torture videos, snuff films, and the fictional serial killer Sweeney Todd, jury members were told.
Prosecutors also told Manchester Crown Court that the pair had compiled a list of four people they wanted to kill, along with Brianna – with whom one of the defendants had become “obsessed”.
Brianna, 16, born a boy but who identified and lived as a girl, was fatally stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, in February this year.
The defendants, a girl, 16, identified only as X, and a boy, 16, identified only as Y, and who cannot be identified due to their age, deny her murder.
At the start of their trial, the jury was read messages recovered from the phones of girl X and boy Y which prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said showed a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death”.
Ms Heer told the jury how they discussed wanting to kill people they knew, and how, over time, they encouraged each other to think about how they would carry out such a plan.
Police at the scene in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire
In November 2022, the pair 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 2022, 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.
Girl X told boy Y: “I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web,” the jury heard.
The court heard that on 1 January 2023, boy Y sent girl X a photo of a hunting knife.
“It was this knife, members of the jury, that was to be used to kill Brianna just six weeks after this image had been sent,” Ms Heer said.
In December last year, the court heard, girl X messaged boy Y telling him she was “obsessed over someone” called Brianna.
Girl X told him that Brianna was trans, sounded just like a girl, and looked really pretty, the court was told.
Brianna Ghey. Pic: Cheshire Police
Ms Heer told the court that in January, girl X created a fake Instagram account to contact one of their targets, referred to as boy E, but the request was blocked.
“If we can’t get boy E tomorrow we can kill Brianna,” girl X said in one of the messages, read out in court.
Boy Y replied saying: “Yeah, it’ll be easier and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl.”
They discussed meeting Brianna and killing her at the park, the court heard, with girl X writing: “I want to stab her at least once even if she’s dead jus coz its fun lol [laughing out loud].”
While the pair met on 28 January in Culcheth Linear Park, they did not meet with Brianna, the court heard.
Ms Heer told the jury that Brianna died after she suffered a “sustained and violent assault” on the afternoon of 11 February.
Her body was discovered by dog walkers at about 3pm in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington.
The court heard the dog walkers saw a male and female breaking into a run as they approached Brianna’s body.
Ms Heer said there was no dispute that the male and female seen running away from Brianna’s body were the two defendants.
“Nor is there any dispute that in the days and weeks leading up to that day they had discussed killing her,” she added.
“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 how the defendants, both of whom were 15 at the time of Brianna’s stabbing, denied murder and denied participating in killing her.
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.”
The trial, expected to last up to four weeks, was adjourned until Tuesday.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life after fires at two properties and a car linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Roman Lavrynovych, 21, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham, southeast London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.
The force said officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command led the investigation because of the connections to the prime minister.
Pic: LNP
Emergency services were called to a fire in the early hours of Monday at a house in Kentish Town, north London, where Sir Keir lived with his family before becoming prime minister.
Damage was caused to the property’s entrance but nobody was hurt.
A car was also set alight in the same street last Thursday.
Forensic workers at a house in Kentish Town owned by the prime minister. Pic: PA
There was another blaze at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington, also linked to the prime minister, on Sunday.
One person was taken to safety via an internal staircase by crews wearing breathing apparatus, London Fire Brigade said.
The head of the Crown Prosecution Service counter terrorism division, Bethan David, said: “These charges relate to two fires at residential addresses in Islington on Sunday May 11 and in Kentish Town on Monday May 12, as well as a car fire in Kentish Town on Thursday May 8.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
A brother and sister have been jailed for the murder of a drug dealer in a “ferocious” knife attack.
Isaiah Marsh, 21, and his 23-year-old sibling Mya Marsh were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing Minister Enfrence, 21, in a row over a £200 cannabis debt.
Bank worker Mya was trying to buy drugs from Mr Enfrence in Kings Norton, Birmingham, when she met him armed with a kitchen knife at about 10am on 5 November, the city’s crown court heard.
Judge Simon Drew KC said that Mya was the aggressor in an initial confrontation with Mr Enfrence over the debt as he sentenced the siblings on Thursday.
Mya called her brother Isaiah to the scene, who “launched a ferocious attack on Minister as he lay defenceless on his back on the floor” and had intended to kill, the judge said.
Mr Enfrence suffered at least 12 stab wounds to his body, arms, hands and head in the “unprovoked” attack.
He did not die instantly and managed to escape before collapsing nearby.
Judge Drew said footage of the attack, which was caught on CCTV, was “truly sickening” to watch as Mr Enfrence died a “traumatic and painful death”.
Minister Enfrence was killed on 5 November. Pic: West Midlands Police
Siblings unanimously convicted of murder
The footage shows Mya passing a knife to her brother during the stabbing.
The judge told them: “This was an attack by two people on one. That attack was unprovoked. Members of the public, including a child in a pushchair, passed very close by while the attack was taking place.”
After the killing, Mya went to work “as if nothing had happened” after taking the morning off work, citing mental health problems, the court was told.
Isaiah later handed himself in to the police.
A jury unanimously convicted the siblings of murder on Monday following a three-week trial.
Both had denied murder and alternative charges of manslaughter.
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Isaiah claimed he acted in self-defence, while Mya claimed she did not believe her brother would use the knife to stab Mr Enfrence.
Rachel Brand KC, representing Mya, said the attack was “utterly out of character” for her client and that Mya had shouted “stop it” and “break it up” during her brother and Mr Enfrence’s struggle.
Isaiah, meanwhile, would find it “almost impossible to reconcile what he saw on the CCTV with who he is”, his barrister Michael Ivers KC told the court.
“He has told everyone who will listen when they have spoken to him that he is full of remorse about what happened,” Mr Ivers said.
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