Girl accused of murdering Brianna Ghey ‘gave her overdose weeks earlier’

The mother of Brianna Ghey described her daughter screaming “in agony” as a result of an overdose weeks before her alleged murder, a court has heard.

The transgender schoolgirl was found stabbed to death in Linear Park, Culcheth, near Warrington, Cheshire, on 11 February earlier this year.

Two children aged 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are standing trial for her murder.

Both defendants deny the charge, blaming each other for the killing.

The jury heard that two weeks before the killing, Girl X sent messages to Boy Y describing how she had given Brianna an overdose of pills.

Her mother Esther Ghey recalled an incident on the weekend of 27 January when she suddenly heard Brianna “screaming” in her bedroom.

“My first thought was that she had self-harmed and hurt herself,” Ms Ghey said in a statement read to the jury.

“She was in her bedroom rolling around in agony.

“She was screaming saying “I think I’m going to die”, I’d never seen Brianna like that, she was not a sickly child.

“I wondered it it was appendicitis.”

While Ms Ghey was in the bedroom, Brianna vomited and her mother recalled seeing what she believed were grape skins.

“I did consider calling an ambulance but while I was cleaning [the vomit] up Brianna improved,” she said.

“By the time I finished she was sitting in her bed and seemed calmer.”

The court heard Girl X sent Boy Y messages describing this incident saying she hoped the plan would work because “ppl already know she is depressed and shit so nobody would get sus…

But she later added: “I gave her some today that should have been enough to kill her … but she didn’t die.”

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC has told the jury that Girl X and Boy Y showed a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death” in the months leading up to Brianna’s murder.

The friends discussed killing a number of children they knew between November 2022 and February this year, but until the overdose incident “there is no evidence that they had acted upon their words”, Ms Heer said.

“However, when X told Y that she had given Brianna an overdose, it seems that she wasn’t making it up,” Ms Heer added.

The jury also heard evidence that Girl X showed an interest in serial killers including Richard Ramirez, who was nicknamed ‘The Night Stalker’, and the film Sweeney Todd.

On 10 February, the night before they arranged to meet Brianna in Culcheth, Girl X sent Boy Y messages asking him if he was bringing his knife.

Boy Y said: “Yes, the hunting knife, the one I’ve shown you before.”

Later in the conversation, Girl X said: “I’ve just watched my favourite film for the 9,000th time, Sweeney Todd, you should watch it.

“He kills people with one of the sharpest blades in the world.”

Girl X then sent Boy Y a 16-second clip from the film, the jury heard, and wrote: “He’s singing about abducting a child, watching it die, it’s really dark and gory and romantic.”

The trial, which is set to last up to four weeks at Manchester Crown Court, continues.