Esther Ghey has said that when the police came to her home to break the news her daughter Brianna had died she “just knew something like this was going to happen because it was such a dark time for everyone”.
In a statement given to the inquest into Brianna’s death on Wednesday, Ms Ghey also said: “I can’t believe the change that Brianna went through. When she was little, she was such an energetic ball of joy, but in her later years she was immersed in darkness. It sometimes feels like I’m grieving two different people.”
The transgender teenager was stabbed to death in a “sadistic” and “exceptionally brutal” attack planned by schoolmate Scarlett Jenkinson and friend Eddie Ratcliffe, who both lured her to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on 11 February last year.
The 16-year-old pair, who were aged only 15 at the time, were jailed for life for the murder in which Brianna was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back, with Jenkinson given a minimum term of 22 years and Ratcliffe 20 years.
The trial at Manchester Crown Court heard that Jenkinson had “enjoyed” the killing, with the excitement causing her to stab Brianna more times, and that she found the thought of violence “sexually arousing”, with a desire to kill again.
Her accomplice Ratcliffe also expressed transphobia about his victim, Mrs Justice Yip ruled when passing sentence in February this year.
The three-day inquest into Brianna’s death, which opened in Warrington on Wednesday, heard evidence read to Cheshire Coroner’s Court on her mother’s behalf.
Ms Ghey described her daughter as “mischievous, funny and outgoing” in her younger years and having many friends. “All my friends were charmed by her, and she always seemed drawn to women,” she said. “She was so loving and always wanting to give out hugs.”
However, she also said Brianna showed “signs of hyperactivity” as early as nursery, with this continuing into her school years.
Brianna was later diagnosed with dyslexia and was asked to leave her first secondary school, transferring to Birchwood High School just before lockdown in 2020, the court heard.
It was there she was befriended by Jenkinson, who had joined the school after being asked to leave Culcheth High School.
Ms Ghey went on to detail Brianna’s mental health struggles that began to develop when she was 14.
The inquest also heard evidence from Brianna’s father Peter Spoon, who told the court she was “funny” in her younger years but became more “quiet and shy”.
The teenager refused to engage with the Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), her mother said, and would go for weeks without washing or brushing her teeth, becoming totally isolated.
She was referred for treatment for ADHD and diagnosed with autism, the court heard, and she was admitted to hospital for weight loss but would not speak to her mother about it.
“I feel she was let down by the lack of mental health treatment,” Ms Ghey added.
While at an eating disorder clinic, staff noticed Brianna had been self-harming.
Ms Ghey also said: “During 2020 Brianna started dressing as a female and going by the name Brianna.
“She had mentioned she had wanted hormone medication. There was a four-year waiting list on the NHS, so Brianna wanted to go private.
“I held out as long as possible because I was worried about the long-term consequences of taking puberty blockers, but it got to the stage where she said she’d kill herself if she couldn’t take the medication.”
Ms Ghey said she consequently used the online service Gender GP to get puberty blockers for Brianna.
The mother also told the court Brianna’s sister was the first person to whom the teenager told she was transgender.
Ms Ghey spoke about the pair’s close relationship, saying, “They would bicker like any other siblings, but they would tell each other everything.” She added: “If anyone was mean to Brianna, her sister would be the first to stand up to them.”
Upon her return to school following lockdowns, the inquest heard Brianna fell behind in her education and spent a lot of time online, including using groups promoting eating disorders and self-harm.
Ms Ghey added: “I thought her mental health deteriorated massively during lockdown. I felt she went down a hole of negativity. She seemed to crave negativity.
“I felt the online world she was living in was very toxic.”
The inquest was told Ms Ghey was “thankful” and relieved when Brianna began socialising with Jenkinson around a year before the young killer murdered her.
In fact, the trial heard self-described satanist Jenkinson began to fantasise about killing people from as young as age 14, with Brianna becoming the first intended victim from her and Ratcliffe’s “kill list” of at least five child targets.
In a statement read to the court on her behalf, some of the first words were heard publicly from Ratcliffe’s mother on Wednesday, with her describing her son as “very caring” and “a good child with good morals”.
The mother of one of Brianna Ghey’s young killers has described him as “very caring” and “a good child with good morals” as her words on his brutal murder were heard publicly for the first time.
Alice Hemmings also described the young killer as “socially awkward”, highly intelligent and showing autistic traits.
She detailed to the court her experience of Ratcliffe on the day he murdered Brianna, revealing a chilling phone converation that they had in the aftermath of the killing in which he “sounded happy”.
That evening, she said, “I asked him if he’d had a good time and he said ‘yes’,” adding: “He appeared to be his normal self.”
The inquest continues.
