Brianna Ghey: Teenagers guilty of ‘disturbing’ murder after planning ‘frenzied and ferocious’ knife attack
Two teenagers have been found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Brianna Ghey in a “frenzied and ferocious” knife attack.
The pair, known only as girl X and boy Y, were just 15 when Brianna was lured to Linear Park in Culcheth, near Warrington, and stabbed 28 times in her head, neck and back with a hunting knife on 11 February.
Speaking after the verdicts, the victim’s mother Esther Ghey said “our house feels empty” without the laughter of her “larger than life” daughter who was “funny, witty and fearless”.
“To know how scared my usually fearless child must have been when she was alone in that park with someone that she called her friend will haunt me forever,” she said in an emotional statement.
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Teenagers guilty of Brianna Ghey’s murder
Manchester Crown Court heard her killers were obsessed with violence, torture and death and had compiled a “kill list” including Brianna, who was transgender, and four other children.
Jurors were shown thousands of texts and WhatsApp messages exchanged between girl X and boy Y, who are now aged 16, in which they discussed their plans.
Both denied murder, claiming the chats were just “dark fantasies”, and blamed each other for carrying out the stabbing.
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How teenagers ‘thirsty for death’ plotted her murder
Brianna Ghey. Pic: Cheshire Police
But prosecutors said that while boy Y wielded the knife, girl X was equally responsible because she actively planned and encouraged the killing.
A jury at Manchester Crown Court found them both guilty of murder today after four hours and 40 minutes of deliberations.
The judge Mrs Justice Yip thanked jurors for their service on an “extremely difficult and, at times, distressing case” and adjourned sentencing for reports.
She told the two convicted killers: “I will have to impose a life sentence. What I have to decide is the minimum amount of time you will be required to serve before you might be considered for release.”
Neither of the teenagers visibly reacted as the verdicts were delivered but boy Y’s mother sobbed while being hugged by a friend as her son was led from the dock.
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Brianna Ghey murder ‘most brutal attack’
Girl X, wearing a pinafore style dress, spoke to her social worker and glanced at her parents leaving the courtroom.
Brianna’s mother said she had felt sorry for them at times before the trial because they had “ruined their own lives as well as ours”.
But she said that knowing “the true nature” of what they had done and that they had shown no remorse, “I have lost all sympathy I may have previously had for them and am glad they will spend many years in prison and away from society”.
She added: “Please have some empathy and compassion for the families of the young people convicted of this horrific crime.
“They too have lost a child and they must live the rest of their lives knowing what their child has done.”
Brianna’s father Peter Spooner said he was “so proud” of his daughter whose life was “brutally taken”.
“It’s difficult to comprehend how some people can do these vile things in the world and don’t understand how cruel and heartbreaking their actions can be,” he said in an emotional statement outside court.
“My heart bleeds every day for Brianna and this will never go away.”
He added: “I never stopped loving her and I never will. When she was little I remember the faces she would pull to make me laugh.
“The cheeky giggle, the funny dances are engraved in my memory.
“I knew she was going to be a star and the amount of support she received from the followers on TikTok proved this.
“I was so proud of what she could do.”
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deputy chief Crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: “This has been one of the most disturbing cases we have ever dealt with. The planning, the violence and the age of the killers is beyond belief.
“Brianna Ghey was subjected to a frenzied and ferocious attack and was stabbed 28 times in broad daylight in a public park.”
The hunting knife used to stab Brianna. Pic: Cheshire Police
The teenagers were arrested within 24 hours of the murder and officers found the knife and blood-soaked clothes in boy Y’s bedroom.
A crumpled handwritten note described as a “murder plan” was found in girl X’s bedroom.
Cheshire Police Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans said both teenagers “thought they’d never get caught” but their downfall was their own “arrogance”.
“I think what they did on that day and leading up to that day was evil, it was cruel and it was vicious,” he said.
“It was absolutely heinous what they’ve done. It was the most brutal, cold-blooded, cruel attack on someone, who was a vulnerable and anxious child.”
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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