Girl accused of murdering Brianna Ghey tells court of ‘shock’ as she ‘saw’ friend stabbing victim
A teenage girl accused of killing Brianna Ghey has told a court she was in “shock” when she saw her friend stabbing the 16-year-old, causing her to “fall face down on the floor”.
The 16-year-old defendant, known as girl X, claims she had her back to her co-accused, boy Y, who is also 16, and Brianna when she “heard a noise like someone screaming” and turned around.
“I saw boy Y stabbing Brianna,” she said.
“It looked like she was starting to fall towards the floor because she was kind of like leaning a bit.”
Girl X said she saw boy Y stab Brianna, who was transgender, “around five times”, adding: “I seen her fall and land face down on the floor.
“I saw him stand next to her leaning over, looking down on her,” telling Manchester Crown Court he “could’ve” stabbed her again while she was on the floor.
Two teenagers deny murdering Brianna. Pic: Cheshire Police
Brianna was stabbed 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back with a hunting knife after being lured to Linear Park in Culcheth, near Warrington, on 11 February, the court has heard.
Girl X and boy Y, who were both 15 at the time and cannot be identified because of their age, deny murder and are blaming each other for the killing.
Girl X became visibly upset at one point while giving evidence today, wiping away a tear when recalling the moments after Brianna’s death.
Asked by her barrister Richard Pratt KC how she felt when she saw the boy stabbing Brianna, she said: “I was in shock really when it happened.”
She added: “There was nothing really I could do because if I tried to stop him, boy Y could’ve easily overpowered me.”
She claimed she had not expected the alleged attack and had not wanted it to happen, claiming previous discussions about killing Brianna had been a “fantasy”.
“I walked over to see if I could see her breathing and I couldn’t. I saw boy Y start to run and then I panicked and started running with him,” she said.
“I kept thinking about whether I should go back or not.”
Girl X denied she had stabbed Brianna, that she wanted boy Y to stab her or that she had wanted the victim to die.
Asked how she feels about Brianna’s death, she said: “I do feel really upset about it.”
The court heard Girl X watched videos of Brianna and sent messages about the murder to friends in the hours after the stabbing.
She told her mother, and then the police, that Brianna was with her but had left to meet a boy from Manchester.
The prosecution alleges this note was a plan to kill Brianna Ghey. Pic: Cheshire Police
She told jurors: “I was scared because obviously I knew how bad it would look, just based off text messages, so I was defending myself as well as boy Y at the time.”
Girl X has admitted watching internet torture videos on the “dark web” but she denied that she “liked seeing Brianna stabbed”.
‘I just want her to die really bad’
She has previously told jurors she had “dark fantasies” of killing other children, as well as Brianna, and an interest in serial killers, but had no intention of making any of it reality.
Jurors have been shown a handwritten note of an alleged “murder plan” to kill Brianna, which was found on girl X’s bedroom floor.
“I thought if I wrote an actual note and showed it to boy Y he would think I was being serious,” she explained.
The court has seen messages in which she told boy Y: “I just want her to die really bad” and “I want to see the pure horror in her face and hear her scream in pain.”
In another she said she wanted to “keep part of its flesh and an eyeball. Really want one because they have pretty eyes.”
Asked why she was talking in that way, girl X said: “Because I knew some serial killers would do things like that,” adding that she didn’t mean to refer to Brianna as “it” and had not meant the term “in a nasty way”.
Girl X said messages in which she encouraged boy Y to bring a knife were “to add more to the fantasy” of killing Brianna and “so he would think I was serious”.
Asked if there was a possibility boy Y would think she was being serious, she said “yes” but said she did not think he would bring a knife “because I knew he never took his knives out with him”.
The trial continues.
Travellers have been warned to expect disruption to trains in Scotland today as the country continues to feel the effects of Storm Floris.
Services are likely to be affected as the storm – which brought winds of up to 124mph on Monday, bringing down trees and power lines, closing roads and cancelling flights – blows through.
The Scottish government held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the “significant disruption” caused and the efforts under way to recover, as rail operators look to clear routes covered by debris and utilities firms work to reconnect properties experiencing power outages.
Ross Moran, Network Rail Scotland’s route director, said teams had been “working tirelessly to keep services moving where possible and to clear fallen trees and debris from the tracks”.
By the evening, their focus had switched to “inspecting routes which have been closed by fallen trees, debris and other damage”, and work will continue into today.
“We’re grateful to passengers for their patience whilst we do this,” Mr Moran added.
(L-R) Frances Kusz, Jack Kusz, Paul Audoire and Robert Kusz waiting at Glasgow Central Station. Pic: PA
Most weather warnings have expired, but a yellow warning for wind is in place until 8am over the Shetland Islands and Orkney, and showers will remain throughout the rest of Scotland.
Rail, road, and ferry travel was disrupted by the storm on Monday, as 100 Edinburgh Fringe events were cancelled, according to organisers.
At one point, more than 30,000 people were without power.
A worker removes a fallen tree on the A82 road near Onich. Both pics: Reuters
At least 68 flights were cancelled, aviation analytics firm Cirium said, with Aberdeen and Belfast City the worst-affected airports.
Western coastal areas bore the brunt of the storm, but strong winds and heavy rain affected much of the rest of the country.
Police received “multiple reports” of camper vans blown over on the A87 between Broadford and Portree on Skye, while in Aberdeenshire the A96 was closed in both directions near Old Rayne because of fallen trees.
Fallen trees have also seen a number of other roads closed, including the A95 Rosarie road in both directions, while the A9 at Daviot was partially blocked by a fallen tree and the A1 Tyne Bridge was only open to cars and single-decker buses.
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Watch: Bumpy landing for plane in Storm Floris
Those driving in poor weather have been urged to avoid the worst-hit areas and slow down when on the roads while allowing time for delays.
Ferries have also seen widespread disruption, with ferry operator CalMac cancelling a number of sailings because of high winds.
Monday’s top wind speed was 124mph at Cairngorm, a mountain range in northern Scotland, according to Met Office data.
Sky News weather producer Christopher England said Tuesday would be a “much calmer”, though still windy – see your local forecast here.
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