Brianna Ghey murder trial: Notes about Harold Shipman ‘found in bedroom of accused teenager’
Brianna Ghey, 16, was found with fatal wounds near Warrington, Cheshire, on Feb 11 - Family handout/Cheshire Police A 15-year-old girl accused of luring a transgender teenager to a park and stabbing her to death posted a tribute the day after the killing calling her "an amazing friend", a court heard. Brianna Ghey, 16, was allegedly murdered by the girl and a boy who plotted to kill five victims and had an obsession with serial killers.
The teenagers were said to have "egged each other on" in the days leading up to the murder. Neither of the accused, who are both now 16, can be named because of their age and are being referred to as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh, Greater Manchester. Brianna's body was found by dog walkers in a pool of blood on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, shortly after 3pm on Saturday Feb 11 this year.
The two defendants sat in the dock with their heads bowed as the details of the attack were read out on the second day of the trial at Manchester Crown Court. Jurors heard that the day after Brianna was killed, X posted a tribute to her "amazing friend" on Snapchat. She wrote: "Brianna was one of the best people I have ever met and such an amazing friend its so f------ sickening what got done to her."
She was arrested an hour after posting the message at her home address where police discovered a "plan to kill" Brianna in her bedroom.
Victim: Brianna Ghey." The note read: "Meet Y at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library ... bus stop.
Wait until Brianna gets off bus then the 3 of us walk to linear park. "Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to Y.
He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. Y drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc".
A second note found in the room detailed another, similar murder plot, involving sleeping pills and bin bags. There were also writings about serial killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez and Harold Shipman, the court heard. Story continues
In Y's bedroom, blood-stained trainers and a jacket were found, as well as a knife that had "blood and human tissue" belonging to Brianna on the hilt. The court previously heard that in the months before the killing, X had developed a "dark obsession" with Ghey because she was "different". In text messages leading up to the murder, the teenagers discussed whether Brianna would "scream like a boy or a girl" as they plotted how to "assassinate" her, the court heard.
Esther Ghey, Brianna's mother, at Manchester Crown Court on Monday - PHIL NOBLE/REUTERS After the attack, the court heard X and Y were seen on CCTV making their way back towards X's home before splitting up. Police later found Brianna's blood stained phone in a drain on Wigshaw Lane, along the route the teenagers took.
The teenagers exchanged text messages throughout the night of Feb 11 about the killing, which by then was being reported in the press, while "feigning ignorance" about what happened. At 11.11pm, X asked Y: "Do you have anxiety about getting caught". Y replied: "Probably."
To which X responded: "You're not going to get caught don't worry. Police are s--te here." The next day, shortly after posting the tribute to Brianna on Snapchat, X told her mother that she had been the last person to see the teenager and asked her to call the police.
In interviews, she claimed she had nothing to do with the murder, and had "burst out crying" when she discovered what had happened. When Y was arrested, he told police he had just gone along with her murder "fantasies" because he wanted to impress her. He claimed he sent X messages about torture to make her laugh.
The court heard that both defendants now accept that they were present in Linear Park with Brianna at the time she was killed but deny attacking her in any way and blame each other for the murder. The trial, expected to last four weeks, continues.
04:09 PM GMT
That's all for today
Thank you for following our live coverage of the murder trial of Brianna Ghey.
02:14 PM GMT
Member of jury replaced
One member of the jury has been discharged because of difficulties serving on the case, the judge said. They have now been replaced with one of the two replacement jurors.
01:03 PM GMT
Boy Y accepts taking a hunting knife to meeting
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said both defendants accepted being present with Brianna at the time she was killed and boy Y accepted taking a hunting knife with him.
Ms Heer said both denied inflicting any injuries, participating in the killing in any way and each blamed the other. She said: "Plainly, they can't both be telling the truth, can they? But the prosecution does not have to prove who it was that wielded the knife - whether it was one of them or both of them.
"Provided you are sure that they intentionally participated in the killing in some way, well then they are both guilty." She said the evidence clearly demonstrated the defendants acted together to bring about Brianna's death and messages showed they "egged each other on". She added: "While each now blames the other, they are both guilty."
She said it was "telling" that they left the scene together and remained in contact, acting together until they were "confronted with the evidence" and had no choice but to "turn on each other".
12:54 PM GMT
Boy Y said he was 'only joking' in torture messages, court hears
In a second police interview, boy Y was asked about messages recovered from his phone, the court heard. He said he sent girl X messages about torture to make her laugh and was "only joking" when he spoke about wanting to stab a boy. Boy Y told police he spoke about killing Brianna because he hated not being included with friends.
He said he thought it was wrong but did not say so because he knew girl X would not like him if he did. The court heard he told police he was joking when he said in messages he would bring his knife to kill Brianna. He answered no comment when he was asked about the hunting knife found in his bedroom with blood on the blade.
12:43 PM GMT
Notes about Harold Shipman and Jeffrey Dahmer found, court hears
The jury was told when police searched girl X's bedroom, they found a number of handwritten notes, including the plan to kill Brianna and another plan to kill which said: "Give them alcohol with sleeping pills, slit throat, dismember body, place pieces in bin bags."
There were also notes about serial killers including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez and Harold Shipman, the court heard.
12:26 PM GMT
Girl X texted Brianna after she was killed, court told
The court heard the two defendants exchanged messages shortly after 11pm in which girl X asked boy Y: "Do you have anxiety about getting caught?" When boy Y replied "probably", girl X responded: "You're not going to get caught don't worry. Police are s---e here."
Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said the following day girl X messaged Brianna saying: "Girl, is everything okay? Some teenage girl got killed in Linear Park its on news everywhere. "And why did you ditch us for some random man from Manchester.
Like wtf. That is so f----- up." Ms Heer said: "The prosecution say that was an obvious attempt by girl X to set up a sort of false defence, were anybody to look at her phone in due course."
12:11 PM GMT
Pair kept each other informed of press reports, court hears
The pair remained together as they walked away from the park and were spotted on dashcam walking together on Wigshaw Lane at 3.15pm, the jury was told.
The two defendants then separated and went home, Deanna Heer KC said. She said: "Thereafter, the telephone evidence shows these defendants remained in contact with each other." She said they kept each other informed of press reports about the incident in Linear Park while also "feigning ignorance" about what had happened.
12:04 PM GMT
Brianna's phone hidden in a drain, jury told
Prosecutor Ms Heer told the court bottles of soft drinks were found at the scene with DNA from girl X and boy Y on, indicating they had been present.
When the area was searched by police, Brianna's mobile phone was found hidden in a drain, the jury was told.
11:56 AM GMT
Cause of death was multiple stab wounds
The court heard Brianna was pronounced dead at 4.02pm and a post-mortem examination found her cause of death was multiple stab wounds. Deanna Heer KC said: "The number of wounds and the pattern of injuries, taken as a whole, suggests that Brianna was subjected to a sustained and violent assault with a knife."
11:35 AM GMT
Recap: Killers wanted to know if Brianna would scream like a girl, court heard
The two 16-year-olds accused of murdering Brianna wanted "to see if she screamed like a boy or a girl", Manchester Crown Court heard yesterday. The court was told that in the months before the killing, girl X had developed a "dark obsession" with Brianna because she was "really different".
Opening the prosecution case, Deanna Heer KC said that text messages exchanged between the alleged killers in the days, weeks and months before the murder "showed they were preoccupied with violence, torture and death". "[The messages] record them discussing how they wanted to kill people they knew," she said. "If that was not an unusual way for two teenagers to speak to one another, the messages demonstrate how, over time, they encouraged one another to to think about how they would actually carry out a killing, and show how they planned together to kill Brianna in just the way that she was in fact killed."
11:31 AM GMT
Good morning
Welcome to our live coverage of the trial of two teenagers accused of murdering the transgender teenager, Brianna Ghey. Brianna, 16, was found with fatal wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, shortly after 3pm on Feb 11 this year. A girl and a boy, both aged 15 at the time and from the local area, were arrested and charged with the murder of Brianna, a pupil at Birchwood High School, Warrington.
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References
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