Murdered trans schoolgirl Brianna Ghey went from being an ‘energetic bundle of joy’ to being ‘immersed in darkness’ in her final months, her grieving mother has revealed.
In a statement read out at the tragic teenager’s inquest, Esther Ghey recalled her ‘endless energy’ while at primary school, where she was ‘mischievous, funny and outgoing’.
But from the age of 14 her mental health began to suffer and at one stage she would go without washing or brushing her teeth for weeks on end.
Brianna – at that stage still living under her male birth identity – was referred to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) but was ‘declined treatment’, she said.
Ms Ghey was ‘disappointed’ and felt her wishes as a mother had been ‘disregarded’.
Aged 15, Brianna was diagnosed with ADHD and began suffering from an eating disorder, at one stage being hospitalised due to her weight loss.
Brianna Grey was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in Cheshire on February 11 last year
Brianna Ghey’s mother, Esther, pictured with her daughter, her mental health began to suffer from the age of 14
Scarlett Jenkinson must serve a minimum of 22 years before parole for her role in the murder
Eddie Ratcliffe (above) was jailed for at least 20 years for his role in the murder of Brianna Ghey
Peter Spooner, the father of murdered 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, arrives at the Coroner’s Court in Warrington for the inquest of his daughter
She also began self-harming, wearing long sleeves to cover the wounds.
‘It was a constant worry , always on edge about what Brianna would do next,’ she said.
In 2020 she began dressing as a female and chose the name Brianna – after being dissuaded over her first choice, Britney, by her mother and older sister, Alicia.
Brianna wanted to take hormone medication, but Ms Ghey said she was ‘worried about the long-term implications of puberty blockers’.
However after Brianna threatened to kill herself otherwise she reluctantly relented and they obtained them via a private provider in February 2022.
During lockdown, Brianna’s mental health deteriorated further and she spent most of her time on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat, her mother said.
She ‘resented’ going back to lessons when schools reopened and felt unable to attend mainstream lessons due to ‘anxiety’.
As a result she began attending a special education unit at Birchwood Community High School.
The sixteen-year-old schoolgirl was murdered in a frenzied attack on February 11, 2023, having been lured to a park in Culcheth, a village on the edge of Warrington, Cheshire
Jenkinson (pictured) lured Brianna – who was a star on TikTok for her hair and make-up videos, but in real life rarely went out alone – to leave her Warrington home and catch a bus to her nearby home village of Culcheth
After the pair led her to a local park, Brianna was hacked to death in a ‘frenzied’ attack using a hunting knife Ratcliffe’s (pictured) parents had bought him on a skiing holiday, suffering 28 separate wounds.
Ms Ghey said she was ‘relieved and thankful’ when Brianna met Scarlett Jenkinson at the unit as she struggled to make friends except online.
Although she never met Jenkinson she knew they would go to the supermarket after school.
Describing Brianna’s final months as ‘a dark time for everyone’, Ms Ghey said: ‘When Brianna was little she was such an energetic bundle of joy.
‘In her later teenage years she was immersed in darkness.
‘It sometimes feels like I’m grieving two different people.’
Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish told the court that Brianna’s mother Esther Ghey had informed her she ‘felt unable to attend’ the inquest.
Ms Devonish said that as well as examining the circumstances of Brianna’s death, the hearing would examine issues ‘which could prevent future deaths’, including potential ‘missed opportunities’.
Peter Spooner struck a sombre figure as he clutched at the hand of his partner, dressed in a dark grey knit sweater and black trousers
Mr Spooner arrives at Cheshire Coroner’s Court ahead of his daughter’s inquest
A photograph of the murder weapon issued by Cheshire Police during the trial last December
Among questions it will address are how Brianna’s eating disorder and gender transition were handled by agencies including health services.
It will also look at risk assessments made ahead of Jenkinson’s transfer to Birchwood Community High School, including whether it could have been ‘reasonably foreseen’ that Brianna would be ‘placed at risk’ as a result.
Brianna’s father Peter Spooner struck a sombre figure as he clutched at the hand of his partner outside the Coroner’s Court in Warrington, dressed in a dark grey knit sweater and black trousers.
The sixteen-year-old schoolgirl was murdered in a frenzied attack on February 11, 2023, having been lured to a park in Culcheth, a village on the edge of Warrington, Cheshire.
There she was horrifically stabbed 28 times by two 15-year-olds who had become obsessed with serial killers and violence – Scarlett Jenkinson, who she considered a friend, and another teenager, Eddie Ratcliffe.
The pair’s trial last December left the nation struggling to comprehend how two children from supportive, stable family backgrounds could have plotted and carried out the ‘savage’ and ‘vile’ killing.
Jenkinson, the daughter of a teacher at a Catholic high school, had filled pages of notebooks with jottings about the methods and characters of notorious serial killers.
Brianna was horrifically stabbed 28 times by two 15-year-olds who had become obsessed with serial killers and violence
Police officers at Culcheth Linear Park in Cheshire as they investigate on February 13, 2023
Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, who has earned praise for her campaign to improve the mental health of young people and protect them from the dangers of the online world, is not expected to attend
She had attended Culcheth High School with Ratcliffe.
But after leaving a 13-year-old girl in hospital by giving her a cannabis-spiked sweet in October 2022, Jenkinson was transferred in a ‘managed move’ to Birchwood Community High School – where she met Brianna.
Follow every detail of the case on The Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial
The Trial…takes listeners behind the headlines and into the courtrooms of some of the biggest trials in the world.
The first series ‘The Trial of Lucy Letby’ was a global hit, with more than 13 million downloads, while season two focused on the murder of Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher from Ireland.
Its third season follows the tragic case of Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender girl killed in Warrington, England.
Follow the evidence as the jury hears it, in twice-weekly reports from The Daily Mail’s Northern Correspondent Liz Hull and broadcast journalist Caroline Cheetham.
She and Ratcliffe drew up a ‘kill list’ of five potential targets before settling on slightly-built Brianna, who was trans.
Jenkinson lured Brianna – who was a star on TikTok for her hair and make-up videos, but in real life rarely went out alone – to leave her Warrington home and catch a bus to her nearby home village of Culcheth.
After the pair led her to a local park, Brianna was hacked to death in a ‘frenzied’ attack using a hunting knife Ratcliffe’s parents had bought him on a skiing holiday, suffering 28 separate wounds.
One hour and 23 minutes after they first went in, the killers were spotted calmly walking away from the park without Brianna.
They then desperately sought to cover their tracks, with Jenkinson posting a Snapchat tribute that called Brianna ‘such an amazing friend’ and ‘one of the best people I’ve ever met’.
The evil duo still blame each other for inflicting the fatal wounds.
Last February, Jenkinson was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years and Ratcliffe life with a minimum of 20 years, after both were found guilty of Brianna’s murder.
An independent safeguarding review into Jenkinson, now 17, later found mental health workers had been in contact the troubled teenager since November 2021.
But they and education professionals did not know about her ‘fascination with violent acts’ and had ‘no reason to be concerned’.
They were also unaware of her two previous attempts to poison Brianna in January 2023 or that she used the dark web to watch videos of torture and killing.
The report, published in August, also found Jenkinson had told her parents and GP she was hearing ‘unkind’ voices in her head.
She was put on the waiting list for a mental health assessment only days before she murdered Brianna.
The review did not cover Ratcliffe, also 17, due to him living in neighbouring Wigan.
A three-day inquest starting today at Cheshire coroner’s court in Warrington is expected to hear from witnesses including Brianna’s father, Peter Spooner.
However Brianna’s mother, Esther Ghey, who has earned praise for her campaign to improve the mental health of young people and protect them from the dangers of the online world, is not expected to attend.
Eddie Ratcliffe during his police interview with Cheshire Constabulary after the death of Brianna
Scarlett Jenkinson during her police interview with Cheshire Constabulary after the death of Brianna
The 37-year-old is campaigning for a total ban on social media use by under 16s.
She believes social media exacerbated crippling anxiety which troubled her daughter – who came out as transgender aged 14 – as well as providing her killers with access to violent material.
Jenkinson had started carrying a mobile phone from primary school age, initially with her mother and father using parent controls on internet use.
But her mother Emma Sutton acknowledged to the authors of the safeguarding review that she found it hard to resist removing them when told by her daughter that ‘I need YouTube for my homework’.
Some controls remained, however, including her parents not allowing access to other types of social media until she turned 13.
Following the killers’ conviction in December, the judge agreed to lift anonymity when they were sentenced.
Mrs Justice Yip said there was ‘a strong public interest in the full and unrestricted reporting of what is plainly an exceptional case’.
The killers, both 16, will be transferred to adult prisons when they turn 18.
Brianna was horrifically stabbed 28 times by two 15-year-olds who had become obsessed with serial killers and violence – Scarlett Jenkinson, who she considered a friend, and another teenager, Eddie Ratcliffe. Pictured: A court sketch of the pair
Ratcliffe was motivated to participate ‘in part by hostility towards Brianna (pictured) because she was transgender,’ she added
Flowers left at the entrance of Culcheth Linear Park, Warrington, following the death of Brianna Ghey
Tributes left during a vigil in Golden Square, Warrington, to mark the first anniversary of the schoolgirl’s murder
People holding their phones aloft during a two minutes silence at vigil in Golden Square, Warrington, to mark the first anniversary of the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey
Ratcliffe was a top set student and treated as a ‘role model’ at the time of the murder, preparing to sit nine GCSEs and aspiring to go to university to study microbiology.
But he was also socially awkward and preferred to interact with people online.
During his exchanges with Jenkinson, he cruelly referred to Brianna as ‘it’ and made derogatory and dehumanising slurs about her gender identity.
Sentencing them, Mrs Justice Yip said Jenkinson’s primary motivation was her ‘deep desire to kill’ driven by ‘sadistic’ urges.
Ratcliffe was motivated to participate ‘in part by hostility towards Brianna because she was transgender,’ she added.
In a highly unusual move, Ratcliffe was permitted to type up his evidence in court after being diagnosed with ‘selective mutism’ following Brianna’s murder.
During the pair’s trial at Manchester Crown Court – where they were referred to as Boy Y and Girl X due to their ages – the teenagers blamed one another for stabbing Brianna.
But Jenkinson later dramatically confessed to having taken the 13cm knife from Ratcliffe and stabbing Brianna herself.
Last February Ratcliffe’s father Kyle was unmasked as a convicted sex offender after he admitted exposing himself while driving past two ‘violated’ girls in his Maserati days before his son went on trial.
The 36-year-old – who also admitted taking an indecent photograph of a child – was told he posed a ‘significant risk’ to girls and young women and jailed for 15 months.
A former kickboxing champion, Ratcliffe ran a gym where his son trained, and along with Eddie’s mother Alice Hemmings bought him as a holiday souvenir the hunting knife which he and Jenkinson would later use to kill Brianna.
Tattooed Ratcliffe, a manager at a truck firm who lived in Leigh, near Wigan, initially told police ‘a pack of lies’, claiming he often drove with his trousers down due to a need to go to the toilet urgently.
But searches of his mobile phone uncovered footage he had filmed secretly of a girl aged between 12 and 15 getting changed out of her swimming costume.
During his exchanges with Jenkinson, he cruelly referred to Brianna as ‘it’ and made derogatory and dehumanising slurs about her gender identity. Pictured: Jenkinson (left) and Ratcliffe (right)
Last February Ratcliffe’s father Kyle (pictured) was unmasked as a convicted sex offender after he admitted exposing himself while driving past two ‘violated’ girls in his Maserati days before his son went on trial
A police photofraph of a crumpled, hand-written note of the ‘murder plan’ to kill Brianna Ghey
A vigil for Brianna Ghey outside the Department for Education in London on February 15, 2023
Police forensic officers at the scene in Culcheth Linear Park in Cheshire on February 13, 2023
He had also carried out internet searches during his son’s trial relating to sex acts involving schoolchildren.
Kyle Ratcliffe was arrested again and remanded in custody – meaning he was not able to be present when his son was jailed.
Jailing him, Judge John Potter told Ratcliffe he clearly had a ‘sexual attraction’ to girls and teenagers and represented a ‘significant risk’ to them.
Ratcliffe was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
