'I saw boy stabbing Brianna': Murder-accused 'wipes away tear' as she denies killing Brianna Ghey

Emma Sweeney reports from Manchester Crown Court

A teenager on trial for the murder of Brianna Ghey has told a court she is "really upset" about her death and says she saw her co-defendant stabbing her.

Brianna Ghey, 16, was stabbed 28 times in a park near Warrington in February.

Two teenagers - known as Girl X and Boy Y - deny murder and blame each other for Brianna's death. Last week, Boy Y told the court he saw Girl X stabbing Brianna.

The jury previously heard Brianna met up with the two of them in Culcheth Linear Park on the day she died.

Girl X said she expected the three of them to "hang out" in the park that Saturday afternoon, she "got bored" and walked away from the bench to stretch her legs.

Defending Richard Pratt KC asked: "Did something attract your attention?"

Girl X replied: "Yeah. When I walked off, I heard a noise like someone screaming and that’s when I turned around."

Mr Pratt said: "What did you see when you turned around?"

Girl X replied: "I saw boy Y stabbing Brianna."

"Around five times. I saw her fall and land face down on the floor. I saw him stood next to her, leaning over, looking down at her."

The 16-year-old said she was "in shock" but did not step in as she thought Boy Y could "overpower" her in that situation.

"I was scared if I tried to ask him he could come after me thinking I could snitch", she added.

Following Brianna's death, Girl X told her mother, and then the police, that Brianna had been with her but left to meet someone from Manchester.

Girl X admitted she "lured" Brianna to the park and lied to her mother, boyfriend and police about what had happened, and sent messages via Snapchat to Brianna after her death because she was "really paranoid".

"I was scared because obviously I knew how bad it would look, just based off of text messages, so I was defending myself as well as boy Y at the time", she said.

Girl X confirmed a crumpled, handwritten note of an alleged "murder plan" to kill Brianna found on her bedroom floor by police, had been written by her but was a "fantasy".

Richard Littler KC, defending Boy Y, who denies attacking Brianna and claims he saw Girl X doing the stabbing, pointed out that Girl X told Brianna to buy a single ticket, not a return ticket, when she travelled to meet the defendants on the day she died.

Mr Littler said: "It was your idea to kill Brianna. It was your idea to stab her."

Girl X replied: "There was no intent."

Mr Littler said: "Put aside intent. It was your idea?"

"Yeah," Girl X replied.

Mr Littler cited a notebook found at Girl X's house where she describes Boy Y as "very, very smart, genius level" but also a "sociopath", lacking emotion and socially awkward, who only had three followers on Instagram.

Girl X says she was his friend and denied the suggestion she tried to control or manipulate him.

The trial continues on Tuesday 12 December.

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