Brianna Ghey’s mum says mobile phones should be made specifically for children under 16 to protect them from online harms
The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey has said mobile phones should be made specifically for children under 16 to protect them from online harms.
In an interview with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge for the Politics Hub, Esther Ghey added that tech giants and mobile phone companies need to “take more responsibility for children’s welfare”.
She also believes the Online Safety Act, introduced by the government in October 2023, doesn’t go far enough and called for more “drastic measures” to protect children.
Ms Ghey’s daughter Brianna, 16, was stabbed 28 times by Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, who were 15 at the time of the attack, after they lured her to Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, on 11 February last year.
Brianna was described as an anxious and vulnerable teenager, with Ms Ghey believing this was partly because she spent a lot of time on her phone.
Brianna Ghey was killed by two teenagers in February 2023. Pic: Cheshire Police
Ms Ghey also believes Brianna would still be alive if her teenage killers had been unable to access violent content on both the dark web and the regular internet as they plotted the murder.
Asked whether she believes there should be a ban on mobile phones in schools, Ms Ghey said it would be too difficult to enforce and there are “already so many pressures on teachers”.
However, she added: “I would like to see mobile phone companies, tech companies take more responsibility for children’s welfare… I’d like to see mobile phones specifically made for under 16s where they can’t access social media sites in the first place.
“Also, I’d like there to be a link to the adult’s phone, to the parent’s phone.
“There is already software available because schools are using this kind of software that can flag up concerning words, so that if a child is searching what Brianna’s killers did, then it would flag up instantly to the parent’s phone and then they will be able to take action.”
Esther Ghey attended a vigil in Warrington last weekend to mark a year since her daughter’s death
Calling on the government to do more to protect children online, Ms Ghey said she is “willing to speak to the experts and to the regulator (Ofcom) and just see what we can do”.
“I think it’s important to have these discussions and to see what we can do moving forward,” she said.
Ms Ghey has also met with the father of Molly Russell, who died from self-harm after viewing content related to suicide online, and is “really hoping to work alongside him to try to push for a change”.
Molly’s father Ian has campaigned for better protections against potentially dangerous social media algorithms since his daughter’s death in 2017.
In a wide-ranging discussion with Sophy Ridge, Ms Ghey also repeated her wish to meet Jenkinson’s mother.
She said she would like to “see how it was for her”, adding: “And if she had the same struggles as what I had with Brianna. And just to see what life was like as a family, really.”
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From 11 February 2024: Brianna Ghey’s mum Esther says ‘hug your children tight’
Ms Ghey has reached out to Jenkinson’s mother but said she has not yet had a response, adding: “Hopefully we can meet in the future.
“If we do, it will be a very private and personal thing for both of us.”
Ms Ghey said she doesn’t blame the parents of Jenkinson and Ratcliffe for Brianna’s death, adding: “I know how hard it is to monitor what your child is doing and to safeguard them and to keep on track of everything that they’re taking in online.”
She also said she felt the judge’s sentencing was correct and believes her daughter’s killers will “never get out of prison”.
Ms Ghey added: “I think that Scarlett is very dangerous to society. And I think that her behaviour since being found guilty has also been very concerning. And I think that prison is definitely the best place for her.”
Brianna was transgender, with the Judge Mrs Justice Yip saying during sentencing that she took into account the “transphobic hostility” expressed by Ratcliffe before Brianna’s death.
Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe have been jailed
Asked if she felt the fact her daughter was trans played a role in the killing, Ms Ghey said: “I think in Eddie’s case, it was a contributing factor. But I do think that Eddie is a hateful boy anyway, but, yeah, it definitely was (a contributing factor).”
Jenkinson was jailed for at least 22 years and Ratcliffe for a minimum of 20 years. They will be transferred to adult prisons when they turn 18.
Judge Mrs Justice Yip said both will remain in prison until they “no longer present a danger” to the public.
Ms Ghey said she would like Brianna’s “lasting legacy” to be improved mental health for young people and mindfulness taught across schools in England.
She added that practising mindfulness herself had helped her have the “mental resilience” to cope with her ordeal since her daughter’s death.
Prosecutors are considering whether to bring further criminal charges against Lucy Letby over the deaths of babies at two hospitals where she worked
The Crown Prosecution Service said it had received “a full file of evidence from Cheshire Constabulary asking us to consider further allegations in relation to deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital”.
“We will now carefully consider the evidence to determine whether any further criminal charges should be brought,” it added.
“As always, we will make that decision independently, based on the evidence and in line with our legal test.”
Letby, 35, was found guilty of murdering seven children and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital and is currently serving 15 whole-life orders.
Letby worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital
She is understood to have carried out two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student, between October and December 2012, and January and February 2015.
Police said in December that Letby was interviewed in prison as part of an investigation into more baby deaths and non-fatal collapses.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Cheshire Constabulary has submitted a full file of evidence to the CPS for charging advice regarding the ongoing investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies at the neo-natal units of both the Countess of Chester Hospital and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital as part of Operation Hummingbird.”
Detectives previously said the investigation was looking into the full period of time that Letby worked as a nurse, covering the period from 2012 to 2016 and including a review of 4,000 admissions of babies.
Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald said: “The evidence of the innocence of Lucy Letby is overwhelming,” adding: “We will cross every bridge when we get to it but if Lucy is charged I know we have a whole army of internationally renowned medical experts who will totally undermine the prosecution’s unfounded allegations.”
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Three managers at the hospital where Lucy Letby worked have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that three managers at the Countess of Chester hospital had been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in a separate investigation.
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Police said the suspects, who occupied senior positions at the hospital between 2015 and 2016, have all been bailed pending further inquiries.
There is also an investigation into corporate manslaughter at the hospital, which began in October 2023.
A public inquiry has also been examining the hospital’s response to concerns raised about Letby before her arrest.
In May, it was announced the inquiry’s final report into how the former nurse was able to commit her crimes will now be published early next year.
Earlier this year, Letby’s lawyers called for the suspension of the inquiry, claiming there was “overwhelming and compelling evidence” that her convictions were unsafe.
In February, an international panel of neonatologists and paediatric specialists told reporters that poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the collapses and deaths.
Their evidence has been passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, and Letby’s legal team hopes her case will be referred back to the Court of Appeal.
A power outage that shut Heathrow Airport earlier this year, causing travel chaos for more than 270,000 passengers, was caused by a “catastrophic failure” of equipment in a nearby substation, according to a new report.
Experts say the fire at the North Hyde Substation, which supplies electricity to Heathrow, started following the failure of a high-voltage electrical insulator known as a bushing, before spreading.
The failure was “most likely” caused by moisture entering the equipment, according to the report.
Two chances were also missed that could have prevented the failure, experts found, the first in 2018 when a higher-than-expected level of moisture was found in oil samples.
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Moment Heathrow substation ignites
Such a reading meant “an imminent fault and that the bushing should be replaced”, according to guidance by the National Grid Electricity Transmission.
However, the report by National Energy System Operator (NESO) said the appropriate responses to such a serious issue were “not actioned”, including in 2022 when basic maintenance was postponed.
“The issue therefore went unaddressed,” the report added.
The design and configuration of the airport’s internal power network meant the loss of just one of its three supply points would “result in the loss of power to operationally critical systems, leading to a suspension of operations for a significant period”, the report added.
Heathrow – which is Europe’s biggest airport – closed for around 16 hours on 21 March following the fire, before reopening at about 6pm.
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Heathrow bosses were ‘warned about substation’
Around 1,300 flights were cancelled and more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted.
Tens of millions of pounds were lost, thousands of passengers were stranded, and questions were raised about the resilience of the UK’s infrastructure.
More than 71,000 domestic and commercial customers lost power as a result of the fire and the resulting power outage, the report said.
NEOS chief executive, Fintan Slye, said there “wasn’t the control within their [National Grid’s] asset management systems that identified that this [elevated moisture levels] got missed.
“They identified a fault, [but] for some reason the transformer didn’t immediately get pulled out of service and get repaired.
“There was no control within the system that looked back and said ‘oh, hang on a second, you forgot to do this thing over here’.”
Sky’s science and technology editor, Tom Clarke, pointed to the age of the substation’s equipment, saying “some of these things are getting really very old now, coming to the end of their natural lives, and this is an illustration of what can happen if they are not really well maintained”.
The report also highlights a lack of joined-up thinking, he said, as “grid operators don’t know who’s critical national infrastructure on the network, and they don’t have priority”.
Responding to the report’s findings, a Heathrow spokesperson said: “A combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid’s failure to maintain its infrastructure led to this catastrophic power outage.
“We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn’t repeated.
“Our own Review, led by former Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly, identified key areas for improvement and work is already underway to implement all 28 recommendations.”
In May, Ms Kelly’s investigation revealed that the airport’s chief executive couldn’t be contacted as the crisis unfolded because his phone was on silent.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who commissioned the NESO report, called it “deeply concerning”, because “known risks were not addressed by the National Grid Electricity Transmission”.
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Mr Miliband said energy regulator Ofgem, which opened an investigation on Wednesday after the report was published, is investigating “possible licence breaches relating to the development and maintenance of its electricity system at North Hyde.
“There are wider lessons to be learned from this incident. My department, working across government, will urgently consider the findings and recommendations set out by NESO and publish a response to the report in due course.”
The Metropolitan Police previously confirmed on 25 March that officers had “found no evidence to suggest that the incident was suspicious in nature”.
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