When Brianna Ghey left home on 11 February, she thought she was going to meet a friend. But in what detectives described as the “ultimate betrayal”, the 16-year-old had been lured from her house that Saturday afternoon by a girl with “murderous intent”.
A little more than two hours later Brianna, who was transgender, was stabbed 28 times in her head, neck and back with a hunting knife in Linear Park in Culcheth, near Warrington.
In the weeks before her murder two 15-year-olds, known only as girl X and boy Y, had meticulously planned the killing as they exchanged thousands of texts and WhatsApp messages.
Manchester Crown Court heard the killers shared “dark thoughts” and talked about their fascination with serial killers, violence, torture and death.
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Brianna Ghey on the day of her murder
As their conversations moved from horror films and Sweeney Todd to thoughts of murder, they compiled a “kill list” including Brianna and four other children.
In one exchange they discussed how they could kill one boy by hanging, but girl X said: “If we can’t get [him] tomorrow we can kill Brianna.”
She said she was “obsessed” with Brianna, while boy Y referred to her as “it” in what Cheshire Police Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans called “transphobic messages”.
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But he said no motive has been identified for the murder and believes it was simply Brianna’s “availability and accessibility” that made her the victim that day, adding: “This was about murderous intent for anyone.”
“They had a real thirst for death and for murder,” he said. “We believe that there were others possibly who it would’ve been had it not been Brianna.”
‘So I bring my knife’
Jurors were told girl X boasted of giving Brianna an overdose of ibuprofen gel in the weeks before her death.
Her mother Esther Ghey remembered she was “really sick”, adding: “She was writhing around in pain screaming, ‘I think I’m going to die’.”
In another exchange, girl X told boy Y that Brianna, from Birchwood, Warrington, had agreed to meet and he replied: “So I bring my knife.”
Girl X said: “Yes, is it definitely sharp enough btw,” then: “Meet me at the wooden posts in Linear at 12, we’ll go over plan again and I’ll show you where I’m killing her and then we both walk to the library to meet her.
“And grab onto Brianna, slit her throat, when she starts to fall stab her in the back then pass me knife. I want to stab her at least once even if she’s dead jus coz its fun lol.”
Brianna didn’t keep the arrangement on 28 January because of a family birthday but after agreeing to another meeting two weeks later girl X told boy Y she was “excited af” – meaning as f*** – the night before the killing.
CCTV footage shows Brianna getting on the bus to meet the pair and looking at her phone when she sent her mother a message saying: “I’m on the bus by myself, I’m scared”.
“That’s well good,” her mother replied. She told the jury she “was really proud of her” as she didn’t go out much because of her anxiety, but doesn’t think her daughter ever read the message.
‘Murder plan’ found in bedroom
“I think this was the ultimate betrayal of someone she considered to be a friend who has lured her out of her house,” said Det Ch Supt Evans. “She thought she had a friend and actually that friend was planning to kill her.”
In the hours after the stabbing, girl X shared a tribute to “amazing friend” Brianna online and told her mother and police the victim had left the park with a young man from Manchester.
But she and boy Y were arrested within 24 hours of Brianna’s body being found by walkers and detectives said they seemed “quite timid but assured” until they realised the weight of the evidence against them.
A knife and blood-soaked clothes were found in boy Y’s bedroom.
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Brianna Ghey murder ‘most brutal attack’
A crumpled handwritten note described as a “murder plan”, was found on the floor of girl X’s bedroom with the heading: “Saturday, 11th February, 2023. Victim Brianna Ghey.”
With a smiley face and a heart in the top corner, the note said: “I say code word to [Boy Y]. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in stomach. [Boy Y] drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”
“They thought they could take another human life and they thought there wouldn’t be any comeuppance for them and they’d never get caught,” said Det Ch Supt Evans.
“Really, their downfall has been their confidence or arrogance.”
A ‘deadly influence on each other’
The officer described both killers as “high-functioning intelligent children”, although their age and mental health issues meant they were afforded special measures in court, including fidget toys and a schedule similar to a school day.
Boy Y, who gradually stopped talking following his arrest and was diagnosed with autism and selective mutism, typed his evidence, claiming he had given his knife to girl X, who had stabbed Brianna.
After the pair, who are now aged 16, were convicted, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deputy crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: “They were both equally responsible in planning the killing and carrying it out.”
She said the pair “appear to have been a deadly influence on each other and turned what may have started out as dark fantasies about murder into a reality”.
“The messages provided a terrifying insight into the warped fantasies of the two defendants,” Ms Doyle added.
“However, they also provided us with the detailed planning of the attack and the attempts to cover it up.”
Rishi Sunak has admitted the Tories may not win the general election after grim defeats in the local polls.
The prime minister suggested the UK was on course for a hung parliament and claimed voters would not want to see Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer “propped up in Downing Street” by the SNP or smaller parties.
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PM on ‘disappointing’ election results
Sunak urged to take party towards right
Former home secretary Suella Braverman urged him to mould the party towards the right in order to win back voters.
But she told the BBC a change of leadership was not a “feasible prospect,” adding: “There is no superman or superwoman out there who can do it.”
Ms Braverman urged the prime minister to adopt several measures to win back voters, including further tax cuts and a cap on legal migration.
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Rishi Sunak ‘up for the fight’ in general election
Tories ‘up for the fight,’ minister insists
But Transport Secretary Mark Harper insisted Mr Sunak and the Tories are “up for the fight” of a general election despite their terrible results in the local contests.
Talking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the minister said: “I think the key thing that people need to do now is get behind the prime minister, focus on the things the government is focused on delivering – the British people’s priorities around the economy, dealing with migration – and get out there and take that fight to the country ahead of the general election.”
Labour won 1,158 seats in the 107 councils in England that held elections on 2 May, an increase of more than 232.
The Liberal Democrats won 552 seats, up nearly 100, while the Tories came in third place on 515 seats, down nearly 400.
Rishi Sunak’s internal critics have abandoned their attempt to unseat him because they have run out of time and do not believe Penny Mordaunt would do what is necessary to save the party.
The Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast this week discusses how the PM is unlikely to face a challenge but will be confronted by an exhausted, sceptical and in parts broken Tory party when Parliament returns on Tuesday.
He faces legislative challenges in the coming weeks, with revolts on the criminal justice bill and sentencing bill, that could be aggravated by the party’s poor performance.
However, efforts by plotters – a loose band co-ordinating to bring down Sunak dominated by ex advisors rather than Tory MPs – have been abandoned.
They are understood to believe the local elections show the Tories still on course for annihilation but they have run out of time, and the window for a challenge was back in December or January.
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They had hoped a suitable candidate would emerge and the closest they came to believing someone was interested was with Penny Mordaunt, though she has denied plotting. In the end, rebels concluded she would not do what it takes. They also said the political cost of changing leader increased sharply in recent months.
Sunak is now hoping Britain coming out of recession this Friday will help turn his fortunes around.
According to leaked correspondence between high-ranking officials, the Iraqi returns commitments were made with a “request for discretion” and no publicity.
The country was willing to move forward but did not want a formal or public agreement.
The current travel advice to Iraq on the Foreign Office website simply advises against “all travel to parts of Iraq”. However, according to the document, negotiations were fairly advanced and described in one table as “good recent progress with Iraq”.
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Other government aims included enhancing cooperation with the Iranian Embassy in order to enhance returns arrangements for migrants and potential asylum seekers.
Returns agreements are also in the works for Eritrea and Ethiopia, according to documents about work undertaken by the Home Office and Foreign Office that relates to countries with the highest number of nationals arriving to the UK by small boats.
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In a tranche of internal government documents seen by Sky News, even from the earliest stage of the Rwanda policy, Downing Street advisers knew there were serious problems with their proposals.
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First Rwanda relocation raids carried out
There are even private admissions that many people arriving here on small boats did so without the assistance of criminal gangs – despite their communications strategy.
Comparisons were also made to Australia’s response – to what Downing Street officials understood to be a comparable “smaller problem” than in the UK and admitted it had cost billions of Australian dollars in order for their returns processes to be fully operational.
In one document submitted to the Home Office, some of the highest-ranking officials at the time wrote that their guidance was to be “prepared to pay over the odds” to get the policy up and running. And that the initial offer from Rwanda was a “modest sum”.
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Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has priced the cost of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda at £1.8m per person for the first 300 people the government deports to Kigali.
It also disclosed that since April 2022 the Home Office has paid £220m into Rwanda’s economic transformation and integration fund, which is designed to support economic growth in Rwanda, and will continue to make payments to cover asylum processing and operational costs for individuals relocated to Rwanda.
It will also pay further amounts of £50m over the next year and an additional £50m the following year.
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A government source said: “The Home Office is spending millions every day accommodating migrants in hotels – that’s not right or fair. We’re taking action to put an end to this costly and dangerous cycle. Doing nothing is not a free option – we must act if we want to stop the boats and save lives.
“The UK is continuing to work with a range of international partners to tackle global illegal migration challenges. Our Rwanda partnership is a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration, and we will get flights off the ground to Rwanda in the next nine to eleven weeks.”