Brianna Ghey: Bloody clothes and plan to kill transgender teen found in accused's bedroom

• Rob Smith reporting from the trial of two 16-year-olds accused of murdering Brianna Ghey.

A plan to kill transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was found in the bedroom of one of two 16-year-olds accused of her murder, a court has heard.

Brianna, 16, was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in her head, chest, back and neck while in Culcheth Linear Park, in Warrington, Cheshire on 11 February 2023.

The two defendants, referred to as girl X and boy Y, are charged with murdering Brianna. At the time of her death, they were both 15 and therefore cannot be named due to their age.

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting on the second day of the trial at Manchester Crown Court, told the jury eight days before Brianna was killed that girl X sent boy Y a picture of a handwritten note headed: “Saturday 11th February 2023. Victim: Brianna Ghey.”

The note, which was found in girl X's bedroom after her arrest, said: “Meet boy 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 boy Y. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. Boy Y drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”

Ms Heer said: “It is clearly, the prosecution say, a plan to kill Brianna Ghey.”

In boy Y’s bedroom police also found trainers and a jacket with Brianna’s bloodstains on them.

Closing the prosecution's opening, 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.”

She added: “While each now blames the other, they are both guilty.”

The prosecution also explained the events leading up to Brianna's death.

On February 10, girl X arranged to meet Brianna and later told boy Y she was “excited as f***” for February 11 after they discussed which knife he would bring, the court heard.

The next day, girl X and boy Y met shortly before 1pm.

Brianna left her house and boarded a bus to Culcheth, sending her mother a text message at 1.41pm which said: “I’m on the bus by myself, I’m scared.”

The three met just before 2pm and walked to the park.

Deanna Heer KC said there were some Snapchat messages between Brianna and girl X while they were in the park.

At 15:06 a message from Brianna’s phone was sent to girl X, saying: “Girl where are you?”

Ms Heer told the jury that it was around this time that Brianna was killed.

At 15:13, just seven minutes after the last message was sent from Brianna's phone, a 999 call was made by a dog walker in which she reported that somebody had been attacked and she had seen the attackers running away.

Brianna was pronounced dead at 4.02pm and a post-mortem examination found her cause of death was multiple stab wounds.

Ms 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.”

When the area was searched by police, Brianna’s mobile phone was found hidden in a drain, the jury was told.

The two defendants then separated and went home, Ms Heer said, but kept in contact on their telephones.

She said they kept each other informed of press reports about the incident in Linear Park while also “feigning ignorance” about what had happened.

Boy Y was also searching online for ways to combat anxiety, the court heard.

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.”

The next day, girl X messaged Brianna saying: “Girl, is everything okay? Some teenage girl got killed in Linear Park it’s on news everywhere.

“And why did you ditch us for some random man from Manchester. Like wtf. That is so f***** up.”

Ms Heer continued: “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.”

Girl X then told her mother that she was with Brianna on the day she died, but Brianna "said she needed to meet some boy, a 17-year-old from Manchester."

As a result, her mother called police at about 5pm the day after the murder.

Girl X later messaged boy Y, repeating the story she had told the police and telling him: “Make sure story adds up.”

She then posted a tribute to Brianna on Snapchat, describing her as an “amazing friend” and that it was “so f****** sickening” what had happened.

Meanwhile, boy Y was online using the Crown Prosecution Service website, looking up penalties for supplying or withholding information.

Both defendants were arrested at their homes at about 19:30 on 12 February.

Police searched girl X’s bedroom, finding 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.”

A knife with blood matching Brianna’s DNA was also found during the search, Ms Heer said.

The trial is expected to go on for two weeks.

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