Trans girl Brianna Ghey ‘lured to park and killed by teens obsessed with death’

Two teenagers who had a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death” drew up a list of five people they wanted to kill before luring a transgender girl to a park and stabbing her, a jury has heard.

Brianna Ghey, 16, suffered 28 stab wounds to the head, neck, back and chest in a “sustained and violent” attack in Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of 11 February this year.

Two children, referred to as Girl X and Boy Y because they cannot be named for legal reasons, deny murder and are standing trial at Manchester Crown Court. They were 15 years old at the time of the killing but are now 16.

Brianna was born a male, the jury was told, but was living as a female at the time of the killing.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told jurors Girl X met Brianna in November 2022 and quickly became fascinated with her.

“I’m obsessed over someone I know but don’t have feelings for them, she’s called Brianna,” she told Boy Y in phone messages later recovered by police.

“I don’t know how to explain. Also she has a dick lol.”

Boy Y responded: “Is it a femboy or a tr***y?”, the jury heard.

Girl X told him that Brianna was “trans” and that she sounded “just like a girl” and “looked really pretty”, the court heard.

Boy Y replied that they had “different tastes” and asked: “Tell me what you feel when you interact with it?”

Ms Heer told the jury: “Girl X said she got nervous and stuff but her heart felt normal. Boy Y responded, ‘I don’t think you’re necessarily in love but I think you’re more curious and intrigued by its unnatural nature.’

“Girl X agreed that she found Brianna fascinating, saying, ‘She’s really different.’”

By the end of January this year, the pair had discussed various plans of how they intended to murder four children they knew as well as Brianna, the jury heard.

Eventually they agreed to killing Brianna first, with Boy Y telling Girl X: “Yeah, it’ll be easier and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl”.

Although both Girl X and Boy Y admit making plans to kill Brianna and being present at the scene, each blames the other for having carried out the attack, the court heard.

“The prosecution case is that, whoever delivered the fatal blows, both defendants are equally guilty,” said Ms Heer. “Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill her.”

Jurors will hear evidence that Brianna was lured to Linear Park on the pretext of taking cocaine with Girl X before she was stabbed, Ms Heer said.

Girl X and Boy Y have known each other since they were 11 years old and are “close friends”, the court heard.

Messages recovered from their phones show that in the months leading up to Brianna’s killing, they had a “preoccupation” with “violence, torture and death” and discussed “how they wanted to kill people they knew”, Ms Heer told the court.

In November 2022, they discussed killing Boy M, a child who Boy Y considered was getting too close to a girl he was attracted to.

One message made reference to Sweeney Todd, the fictional barber from 19th century literature and a popular musical known for murdering customers using a razor.

“If I do end up killing Boy M, I have a really sharp blade, the same one that Sweeney Todd uses,” Girl X said in a message to Boy Y.

“If we kill Boy M can I keep some things, a couple of teeth and an eye. Idk [I don’t know] how I would cut eye out though and get teeth out.

“And torture before killing.”

Boy Y later added: “And if you cut his heels and chop his tongue he can’t run or talk. I don’t know what I would get of him.”

The girl later sent Boy Y a video of killing and torture which was apparently an advert “for people who like rape, snuff, torture and murder”, Ms Heer told the jury.

Girl X told Boy Y: “I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web.”

Brianna was found by Kathryn Vize and her husband Andrew as they were walking their dog at around 3pm, the court heard.

Mrs Vize saw a male “bend down, as if to tend to a dog” before he left the footpath with a female towards a field, “breaking into a run as they did so”, Ms Heer told the jury.

When the couple approached they realised Brianna was lying seriously injured “face down in the mud” and dialled 999, the court heard.

Emergency services rushed to the scene but she could not be saved and died at 4.02pm.

Before the prosecution opening began, Mrs Justice Yip told jurors to put their emotions to one side and “calmly and dispassionately” make their decision based solely on the evidence they will hear.

Jurors were told Boy Y has been diagnosed with autism since being arrested while Girl X has also displayed signs of autism and ADHD.

Judge Yip said arrangements have been put in place to ensure the two defendants are able to follow proceedings.

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