Boy accused of murdering Brianna Ghey says he saw girl stab teenager

A boy accused of murdering Brianna Ghey [1] told police he saw his co-defendant stabbing her, a court has heard. Boy Y and girl X, who cannot be named because of their ages, are both accused of the murder of transgender 16-year-old Brianna [2], who was found stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington [3], on the afternoon of 11 February. Both 16-year-old defendants, aged 15 at the time, deny murder and blame each other as being responsible for Brianna's death, Manchester Crown Court [4] has heard.

At the start of the second week of the trial [5], jurors were shown police interviews with the suspects after their arrests, with boy Y seen telling officers he saw girl X stabbing the 16-year-old after "Brianna tried to break her and her boyfriend up".

Brianna, 16, a transgender girl from Birchwood, Warrington, was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife (Cheshire Police) Boy Y said girl X had invited Brianna, who he had never met before, to meet up and go to the park, and suggested an area near a bench.

He said: "I turned away to go to the toilet behind a tree. When I turned back around I saw girl X stabbing Brianna. Brianna was on the floor."

Boy Y told detectives he saw Brianna curled up on the floor and stood over her was girl X, who had a knife.

Chilling doorbell footage shows Brianna Ghey leaving home hours before she was stabbed to death (CPS) He continued: "I went to check if Brianna was alive.

I put my hands on her. I got blood all on my hands." A detective asked him: "Did you see where the blood was coming from?"

"Everywhere," boy Y replied. He said girl X stopped stabbing Brianna because nearby she saw another member of the public in the park and she ran away. He followed, and they then both walked away from the park.

Box Y continued: "I asked her why she did it. She said Brianna tried to break her and her boyfriend up."

Police attend the scene where 16-year-old Brianna was found with multiple stab wounds (Getty)

He said girl X appeared "calm", but he was "shocked and panicked". He told police he did not see the knife and did not know what girl X did with it afterwards. But jurors have been told it is now accepted that Brianna was killed with a hunting knife belonging to boy Y, which was found in his bedroom at his home address with Brianna's blood still on the weapon.

Story continues And neither defendant disputes that in the days and weeks before Brianna's death, they had discussed and made plans to kill her, prosecutors told the court. The same day that boy Y was interviewed, girl X was also questioned by detectives, after both were arrested the day following Brianna's death.

In her police interview, girl X claimed that they were with Brianna at the park and she was "very happy" and "really smiley", but then abruptly "stormed off" to meet a 17-year-old boy from Manchester who was picking her up in his car. Girl X was told by police her phone and messages would be analysed by them, but she denied there was anything on the device to do with Brianna's death. She then made "no comment" to further questions, the court heard.

It comes after the trial was told:

Girl X and boy Y had a fixation with torture, violence and death
The pair had a "kill list" of other child victims
A "murder plan" to kill Brianna was found in girl X's bedroom
Girl X posted a tribute to her alleged victim on social media after the killing
Girl X had an interest in serial killers

The trial continues.

References

^ murdering Brianna Ghey (www.independent.co.uk)
^ are both accused of the murder of transgender 16-year-old Brianna (www.independent.co.uk)
^ Warrington (www.independent.co.uk)
^ Manchester Crown Court (www.independent.co.uk)
^ trial (www.independent.co.uk)