Hunting knife ‘used to stab schoolgirl Brianna Ghey to death in ‘frenzied’ attack was a holiday souvenir bought for him by the parents of one of her killers’, trial hears
- Brianna Ghey, 16, was stabbed 28 times on February 11, a court has been told
By James Tozer[1] and Liz Hull[2]
Published: 19:33, 19 December 2023 | Updated: 19:36, 19 December 2023
The hunting knife allegedly used to stab transgender[3] teenager Brianna Ghey[4] to death in a ‘frenzied’ attack was a holiday souvenir bought for him by the parents of one of her alleged killers, their trial heard today.
Delivering his closing speech to the jury in their murder trial, Richard Littler KC, representing Boy Y, as the 16-year-old is being referred, said the 5in blade had been ‘purchased for him by his mum and dad’ on a skiing trip weeks earlier.
He contrasted the way it was a gift from his ‘loving family’ with how his co-accused, Girl X, kept a kitchen knife hidden in a box on top of her wardrobe.
Mr Littler accused Girl X of having ‘stolen’ Boy Y’s defence, telling jurors her testimony had been was a ‘carbon copy’ of Boy Y’s earlier version of events, but ‘the wrong way around’.
Interviewed by police days after Brianna was stabbed 28 times in a ‘savage’ attack, Boy Y – then 15 – insisted he was urinating behind a tree and turned around to see Girl X stabbing Brianna.
The hunting knife allegedly used to stab transgender teenager Brianna Ghey (pictured) to death in a ‘frenzied’ attack was a holiday souvenir bought for him by the parents of one of her alleged killers, their trial heard today
Brianna Grey was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife on February 11, a court has been told
For her part, Girl X told detectives Brianna had gone off to meet ‘this lad’ from Manchester and had been safe and well when she last saw her.
Only in the witness box did she change her account, saying she had gone to ‘stretch her legs’ when she heard screams and saw Boy Y stabbing 16-year-old Brianna, before both ran away in ‘panic’.
Mr Littler said Girl X had ‘simply stolen [Boy Y’s] defence’, adding: ‘There’s been a theft.’
Follow every detail of the case on The Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial[5]
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 13million 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[6], 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.
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He claimed that the ‘vocally articulate’ schoolgirl had taken advantage of his client’s ‘selective mutism’, which meant he had to type up his court evidence.
Mr Littler told jurors at Manchester Crown Court that if Brianna’s killing had been a play, it would have been a tragedy in which the script was written by Girl X and where she was ‘the central character’.
The issue for them to decide was whether Boy Y was ‘part of the cast, or just an extra’, he added.
Brianna’s bloodied body was found lying face-down in Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington, Cheshire on February 11.
Girl X and Boy Y, both now 16, both deny her murder, blaming each other.
Both are said to have been fascinated by torture, violence and death, and handwritten notes about serial killers were found in Girl X’s bedroom following her arrest.
In her own closing speech yesterday, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC argued the pair were ‘in it together’ from start to finish.
Messages in which the pair hatched their plan to kill Brianna meant that the evidence is ‘all there in black and white’, she added.
Jurors have been told that Brianna’s blood was found on Boy Y’s jacket and shoes, whereas none was found on Girl X’s clothing.
But today Mr Littler said Girl X had 28 hours between Brianna’s death and her arrest the following day to wash the clothes she was wearing.
‘The reason her clothes had no blood from Brianna on them is they were washed,’ he said.
He claimed evidence from an expert on blood distribution that Boy Y must have been in close proximity when Brianna was stabbed was unreliable.
Boy Y’s wooden-handled hunting knife was found in his bedroom with traces of Brianna’s blood on it after the stabbing.
He told the jury last week that he took it to Culcheth that day at Girl X’s request, handing it to her before they met up with Brianna.
Today Mr Littler said the knife had been ‘purchased for him by his mum and dad only weeks before from a souvenir shop’.
He said the presence of the kitchen knife in Girl X’s room showed she also liked knives ‘quite a lot’ – although jurors have heard there is no evidence she took it to the scene.
Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther Ghey arrives at Manchester Crown Court on November 27
Girl X and Boy Y, who cannot be named as they are both 16, are accused of murdering Brianna (pictured) in Culcheth Linear Park near Warrington, Cheshire on Saturday, February 11
Insisting Boy Y’s inability to speak was ‘beyond his personal control’, Mr Littler highlighted how his voice became ‘quieter and quieter before disappearing altogether’ across his police interviews.
The contrast to how Girl X behaved when speaking to detectives was ‘frankly remarkable’, he added, saying he counted 17 occasions when she laughed.
‘One is unable to speak,’ he said.
‘The other ready and willing to confidently tread the boards and lie and lie again, with the odd laugh and smirk.’
Delivering his own closing speech yesterday, Girl X’s barrister, Richard Pratt KC, argued she had never intended her murderous fantasies to turn into reality.
Highlighting how Boy Y had confirmed that he used to compete as a kickboxer, a discipline involving both kicking and punching, Mr Pratt said it required ‘no stretch of the imagination’ to picture how quickly he could thrust in a knife.
But Mr Littler said Boy Y lost the only contest he entered in a competition when he was 11, saying it was ‘not really the Karate Kid impression’ presented by Girl X’s barrister.
Yesterday Mr Pratt pointed out that not even a ‘microscopic’ drop of Brianna’s blood had been found on any of Girl X’s clothing or possessions.
‘There’s no evidence that [Girl X] joined in,’ he added.
But Mr Littler suggested blood on Boy Y’s jacket could be explained by him crouching down next to Brianna after she had been stabbed by Girl X, or wiping his hands on it afterwards.
Girl X was ‘the stabber’ while Boy Y was ‘the spectator,’ he added, saying she had ‘tricked, controlled and manipulated’ him into unwittingly helping to fulfil her fantasy.
Saying Girl X had been the ‘main character’ in a plot she had written and stage-managed herself, Mr Little insisted that Boy Y ‘was an extra’.
‘He didn’t stab her, he didn’t intentionally participate in that stabbing, and we invite you to find him not guilty.’
People leave flowers near Linear Park in Culcheth in February where Brianna Ghey was found
Brianna Ghey, 16, died after being stabbed 28 times in a ‘frenzied attack’ on February 11 this year
Beginning to sum up everything the jury have heard, trial judge Mrs Justice Yip told then they must ‘approach all the evidence dispassionately, without sympathy and without making assumptions’.
She told jurors that ‘calm, careful reflection’ was how they could ‘fulfil your duty’.
Continuing her summing up, Mrs Justice Yip told jurors: ‘They can’t both be telling the truth.
‘Your job is not to choose between them, but rather to examine the case against each and decide whether the prosecution have made you sure of each defendant’s guilt.
‘That means your verdicts could be the same for both defendants, or they could be different.
‘You must analyse each defendant’s account, assessing it alongside the other evidence in the case.’
The jury is expected to retire to consider their verdicts tomorrow.
Brianna GheyTransgender Issues[7][8]
References
- ^ James Tozer (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Liz Hull (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ transgender (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Brianna Ghey (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Follow every detail of the case on The Mail’s acclaimed podcast The Trial (open.spotify.com)
- ^ Brianna Ghey (open.spotify.com)
- ^ Brianna Ghey (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Transgender Issues (www.dailymail.co.uk)