Teen accused of murder admits finding Brianna Ghey 'attractive' - updates

Trial will continue at 10am on Wednesday

Justice Yip asks for the jury to return at 10am on Wednesday.

The cross-examination of Girl X was concluded today and the case for Boy Y is set to begin tomorrow.

Girl X admitted she liked the idea of causing pain and suffering to Brianna but denied turning her fantasy into reality.

The court heard Boy Y had "gradually stopped speaking" to anyone apart from his mother following his arrest and had been diagnosed with selective mutism, as well as autism spectrum disorder.

He is due to give evidence on Wednesday by typing, the jury was told.

Giving evidence for a second day, Girl X was asked what she enjoyed about the idea of killing.

She said: "I'm not exactly sure, I just found the overall thing quite interesting I guess."

Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, asked: "Did you find the idea of killing Brianna, who you were attracted to, exciting?"

Girl X said: "I guess so, yes."

The jury heard Girl X had saved Boy Y's phone number in her phone under the name "Tesco John Wick" and that John Wick was a character from a film about a hitman played by Keanu Reeves.

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Boy Y diagnosed with 'selective mutism'

Girl X has finished giving evidence and the court will soon hear from Boy Y, who is also accused of Brianna's murder.

Although the court has been told there is not enough time left this afternoon for him to take the witness stand, junior counsel Mr Swift is first reading some agreed facts on this topic.

He says: “Since his arrest, Boy Y has been diagnosed by psychologists with autistic spectrum disorder. Features of his ASD together with anxiety impact on his presentation and communication skills.

“Although Boy Y has a good overall understanding of language, following his remand he gradually stopped speaking to anyone apart from his mother. He has since been diagnosed with selective mutism. Boy Y’s silence is not a matter of choice. His verbal challenges are beyond his personal control.”

Girl X asked why she 'posted tribute to Brianna' after stabbing

Girl X has been asked about a tribute posted to Brianna online after the stabbing, denying she "got excited" by doing so.

When asked if she was worried after news of the teenager's death appeared on the national headlines, she said no "because it wasn't me". She agreed however she was pretending Brianna was still alive when she knew she was dead.

Girl X said feared ‘a bit’ she would be caught when she received a Facebook message from a friend who said they had seen her in Linear Park. Asked why she had posted an online tribute to Brianna, Girl X said she was ‘upset’ about what had happened to Brianna.

The prosecutor said it was ‘a lie giving impression a sick thing’ had happened to Brianna ‘whereas you were aware all the time’. “Is that right?” asked the prosecutor. “Yes,” said Girl X.

When asked if it was the truth that she and Boy Y "lured" Brianna to the park to kill her, she said "no".

Girl X tells jury she saw Boy Y stabbing Brianna 'five or six times'

Girl X said Boy Y stabbed Brianna five or six times.

The defendant said this happened while Brianna was standing up and on the ground.

Girl X said she couldn’t tell if Boy Y had blood on him because he was wearing dark clothing.

The defendant said she was ‘in shock’.

“I knew if I tried to intervene I knew it could go quite badly for me as well,” said Girl X.

She said she ‘panicked’ and started to run with Boy Y.

A police officer stands next to floral tributes at the entrance to Linear Park (Getty Images)

Accused girl discussed killing trans teen by making her drink cleaning products

A girl accused of murdering transgender teenager Brianna Ghey discussed using cleaning products to kill her, a court heard.

Girl X, who is 16, said she was attracted to Brianna and also fantasised about killing her, but had no intention of carrying it out, a jury at Manchester Crown Court heard. She also claimed it was "possible" her alleged male accomplice, named only as Boy Y, would have agreed to kill Brianna because he did not like trans people.

The court was also told Girl X denied turning "dark fantasies" of torture and killing into reality with the stabbing. She denied having to wipe Brianna's blood from her face after the killing.

For the story in full, click here.

Brianna Ghey was found dead at around three in the afternoon earlier this year, in Linear Park, Warrington (Liverpool Echo)

Girl X says she 'didn't think to call 999'

After Brianna was stabbed, Girl X "didn't think to call 999," the jury heard.

DH: “Did you think about calling 999?”

X: “No, I didn’t feel I could get my words out or how I would explain everything.”

DH: “You liked Brianna, you told us. Didn’t you think, I need to get her help? Why didn’t you try?”

X: “I really didn’t know what to do in that situation.”

DH: “Lots of people haven’t had to call 999 before. You didn’t do that.”

X: “No.”

DH: “Instead, you left with Boy Y who you say you were frightened of?”

X: “Yes.”

"Just stab him, just slit his throat and stab his back"

Girl X is asked about an exchange of messages in January when the defendants are said to have discussed killing another person, Boy E.

Girl X is said to have told Boy Y: “Just stab him, just slit his throat and stab his back.”

The defendant agreed she knew Brianna had been stabbed in the throat and back.

“Do you think Boy Y did that because you told him to in that conversation?” suggested the prosecutor.

“I did mention it in that conversation but I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t think he did go from that conversation.”

Girl X agreed it was ‘the same plan’ for the killing of Brianna.

Asked why she had wanted Boy Y to come to the park, Girl X said: “I wanted to hang out with the three of us because I was mates with all of them.”

The KC reminds the defendant she had said she knew Boy Y didn’t like Brianna.

“I knew he wouldn’t say anything to her. He wouldn’t say anything nasty to her with me being there,” said Girl X.

Girl admits finding way serial killers murdered their victims 'interesting'

Girl X is asked about the search history on her phone and notes found in her bedroom which were said to suggest an interest in serial killers.

Asked whether she took an interest in serial killers because she was trying to work out how they would kill people, Girl X said: “That’s part of the reason I found them interesting, the way different ones have killed people, yes.”

Girl X is reminded of an exchange of messages she had with Boy in which he asked how she was going to do it and she had replied she didn’t know and sought any ideas.

“First you have to lure them out,” Boy Y is said to have replied.

Girl X told the jury this was Boy Y giving her an idea about how to lure their victim out.

Ms Heer suggests to the defendant she was talking to Boy Y about different ways somebody might be tortured but that Girl had said she wanted them dead ‘ASAP’.

Girl X talks about setting up a fake Instagram account

DH: “You needed to get Boy E to come and meet you. You needed to lure him out.”

X: “In a way yes.”

DH: “You tried to do that by creating this fake Instagram account. That was something you did in real life.”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “We know what happened in the end was he blocked the Instagram account. That really happened. Boy E really did block that Instagram account.”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “You then send a message to Boy Y saying, how are we going to see him in person? If this was a fantasy, why did you need to see him in person?”

X: “I wasn’t actually going to meet up with him in person. I was going to message him on the account asking him questions. There was rumours about him dating a year six girl. I was going to ask him about that. I wasnt going to ask him about coming out."

DH: “Was that going to be a nasty message?”

X: “I wouldn’t say a nasty message, I was just going to say what’s going on? What’s being said?”

DH: “Were you hoping he would open up to you and trust you?”

X: “I guess, yeah.”

"Were you saying to Boy Y, if I help you, will you help me?”

Ms Heer continues: “Do you think having looked at these messages that you could persuade Boy Y to do something if he didn’t want to do it?”
X: “No.”

DH: “Boy Y didn’t want to come out with you on a school night did he. Were you able to persuade him to do so?”

X: “I don’t remember whether it was a school night or not.”

DH: “You say can I help you with it, since I’m helping you with Girl A. I just want to be clear about this. Were you saying to Boy Y, if I help you, will you help me?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “Was it effectively a deal you were making?”

X: “Yes.”

The court will take a short break.

Girl X says she'll help Boy Y with a girl he liked

DH: “You told us Girl A was someone Boy Y liked, and he wanted your help to speak to her. Boy Y struggled to speak to Girl A and you were happy to help him.”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “This is a conversation about Boy C and Boy S. I want to kill someone else. Well two people, but I wanna leave a space in between. You say can you help me with it since I’m helping you with Girl A? He says well, you’ve got me there. Why did you say that to Boy Y?”

X: “I’m not sure.”

DH: “You were helping him with Girl A. Did you want something in return?”

X: “I didn’t actually mean it.”

DH: “But you were actually going to help him with Girl A.”

X: “Yes.”

Girl X now faces questioning from prosecution

Now being asked questions by Deanna Heer KC, on behalf of the prosecution, Girl X says she told Boy Y about her interest in torture and killing in November 2020.

Girl X agreed she had ‘shared your thoughts with Boy Y of killing and torture’.

She agreed she also shared the ‘fantasy’ of killing Brianna together.

Police at Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire, where Brianna was stabbed to death on 11 February this year (MEN Media)

Girl X 'likes the idea' of causing some pain and suffering

Girl X is shown screenshots that she sent to Boy Y.

Deanna Heer KC (DH): “Were these screenshots of a real video you watched?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “You said I love watching torture vids, real ones on the dark web. Was that true?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “Boy Y said to you, just make sure no one finds out. You said ik. Does that mean I know?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “Was it clear from his reaction that he knew you’d get into trouble if anyone found out?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “You knew that as well.”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “You told us you started to share your fantasy about killing and torture. When you shared that fantasy with Boy Y, did your fantasy become a fantasy of you and Boy Y torturing and killing someone together?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “You enjoyed the idea of both of you killing someone together?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “What was it you enjoyed about the idea of killing someone?”

X: “I’m not exactly sure, I just found the overall thing quite interesting I guess.”

DH: “Did you like the idea of having power over someone in that way?”

X: “Yes.”

DH: “Did you like the idea of being able to cause them pain and suffering?”

X: “Yes.”

Girl X allegedly wiped blood from her face with saliva

Mr Littler suggests to the defendant that when she and Boy Y were walking away from the scene she was captured ‘wiping blood from your face using your saliva’.

The defendant denied this happened.

Girl X also denied at one point she was holding both her own and Brianna’s phone after she had been killed.

“I’m going to suggest to you you were the one who put the phone down the grid,” said the KC, and Girl X replied ‘no.”

Brianna was stabbed to death in a park on February 11, 2023 (MEN Media)

Girl X accused of 'pretending to be Brianna's friend'

Mr Littler said: “I’m going to suggest to you you pretended to be a friend of Brianna and you weren’t really a friend at all.”

Girl X replied ‘no’.

The KC went on to suggest she wasn’t a friend of Boy Y ‘at all’.

“He was a good friend, the same as Brianna,” said Girl X.

“I’m going to suggest to you you stabbed Brianna,” said Mr Littler and the defendant replied: “No.”

“You turned your fantasy into reality,” suggested the KC and Girl X said ‘no’.

Photographs shown of clothes in Girl X's bedroom

Mr Littler asks the defendant to look at a series of pictures of clothes police took in her bedroom the day after the stabbing.

Girl X confirms one picture shows a burgundy top. The barrister points to another top, a hoodie, shown in one of the pictures - the defendant denied that was the one she was wearing at the time.

Girl X denied the police had ‘just got it wrong’ when they described the top she was wearing.

The defendant said that when she got home she changed into different clothes and ‘forgot what I was wearing previously’ and told police at first she was wearing ‘the clothes I changed into’.

Brianna was stabbed 28 times at Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington, Cheshire (MEN Media)

Girl X denies 'controlling' Boy Y

Girl X denied she ‘controlled’ Boy Y.

She agreed the pair had discussed hanging Boy E and getting rope.

“You weren’t fantasising at all, were you? You wanted it to happen,” said the KC.

“No,” said Girl X.

Girl X is asked about a message she had sent to a girl Boy Y was interested in, in the evening after the stabbing, in which she was said to have asked ‘are you sure Boy Y don’t like you?’.

Asked why she had sent that message, the defendant replied: “I don’t remember.”

The KC asks the defendant whether she was worried Boy Y would ‘tell the truth to the police about what you had done’.

“No,” replied Girl X.

Girl X text Boy Y saying 'I'm trying to kill her'

Girl X is asked about evidence about Brianna feeling unwell the week before the stabbing.

She is reminded she had texted Boy Y: “I’m trying to kill her and the easiest way is pill overdose. Already know she’s depressed and s**t so nobody could get sus.”

Girl X was asked if Brrianna was her good friend and she said ‘yes’.

The defendant is reminded that she had also texted Boy Y: “But for some reason she has a high tolerance. Like I gave her some today. That should have been enough to kill her.”

Mr Littler asks Girl X if she had given Brianna ibuprofen. The intermediary asks the barrister to rephrase the question and the KC asks if she had given Brianna ‘medication’.

“No,” replied Girl X.

Mr Littler asks the defendant if she was the reason Brianna was ill.

Girl X said both her and Brianna were in Asda and that they ‘both took tablets’.

“We both took our own. Nobody forced anyone to take them,” said Girl X.

The KC suggests if the defendant had given her those tablets ‘that wouldn’t be a fantasy would it?’.

“No, but that’s not what happened,” said Girl X.

Brianna Ghey was found dead at around three in the afternoon earlier this year, in Linear Park, Warrington (Liverpool Echo)

Girl X asked about having a 'fantasy to murder best friend'

Mr Littler asks the defendant about her previous evidence that the plan to murder Brianna was a ‘fantasy’.

Girl X said she knew what fantasy meant. Mr Littler suggests it means ‘something which is impossible or improbable’ that you would like to happen. The defendant agrees.

“I might have a fantasy about being a professional footballer or something like that. It’s never going to happen but I would like it to happen. Is that the sort of fantasy you are talking about?” asked the KC.

Girl X agreed.

“Why would you have a fantasy about murdering your good friend?” asked Mr Littler.

“I don’t know. I’m not sure where it comes from,” said Girl X.

Girl X denied suggestions she had a knife ‘available to you’ in the park and knew Boy Y had brought a knife.

“I’m going to suggest to you this was not a fantasy anymore and this was something you could do. You could stab Brianna,” said the KC.

Girl X said ‘no’.

Girl X continues to give evidence

Girl X is continuing to be assisted by a court intermediary when she gives evidence at Manchester Crown Court.

The girl, from Warrington, and the boy, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, cannot be named due to their ages.

Richard Little KC, representing the boy, addresses the girl in the courtroom.

Boy Y will be cross-examined at Manchester Crown Court

Boy Y is expected to be cross-examined by Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, at Manchester Crown Court today.

It follows the grilling of Girl X, from both prosecution and her defence lawyer Richard Littler KC.

Mr Littler KC will later lead further questioning for Boy Y's defence.